In just 18 months PINZ has established and launched the Bahrain Polytechnic, a new leading educational institution in the Kingdom. The Economic Development Board (EDB) of Bahrain, contracted PINZ to do the feasibility and then establishment of the Polytechnic, and the project was successfully completed on time and within budget.
The new national polytechnic opened its doors in September 2008 with its first students selected from over 1200 applicants, and is currently located within the wider campus of the University of Bahrain. Responsible for employing all expat staff, PINZ had a staff complement of over 40 expatriates in the institution at the time of opening, and those staff are being joined by a similar number of local Bahraini staff.
PINZ’s core establishment team, drawn from across New Zealand’s polytechnic sector, started work in March 2007, and completed the final milestone in a little under 12 months from the implementation phase, and only 18 months from PINZ’s original winning proposal acceptance by the EDB.
The Polytechnic is an integral and significant part of Bahrain’s national education reforms program, and will provide high quality, relevant, applied professional and technical education. The Bahrain model builds on from the New Zealand polytechnic model where it will be offering programmes and qualifications from diplomas, through to degrees.
The current scope of programmes includes english language, foundation studies, engineering, information and communications technologies (ICT), business, transport and logistics, and office management and administration. Further degrees will be added over the next 5 years.
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