Awarded where candidates have met all of the requirements below:

• Successful completion of, or exemption from, all courses listed in Schedule A 

     and

• Accumulation of at least 60 credits from courses in Schedule B

     and

• Accumulation of at least 45 credits from courses in faculty (30) outside of faculty (15) electives

   and 

• Accumulation of 15 credits courses as National requirement.

   and

• Achieve the Bahrain Polytechnic General Qualification Requirements as documented in the naming and Awarding Qualifications policy

and

• Completion of courses to accumulate a minimum of 480 credits from any Bahrain Polytechnic Qualification;

Bahrain Polytechnic has been established by the Bahrain Government to address the need for a skilled Bahraini workforce to support economic growth and development. To support the development of the workforce Bahrain Polytechnic aims to produce graduates in applied, professional qualifications. It is widely acknowledged that Information Technology is a key sector and enabler for growth in any modern economy.

The Bachelor of ICT (BICT) programme aims to develop rounded graduates who have not only the requisite skills demanded of the 21st Century workplace but also skills in key areas of technology used in a modern ICT organisation. The BICT programme is currently divided into five main domains, Programming, Databases, Networking,  Information Systems (IS), and Cyber Security (CYS) in which students can specialize and earn a qualification in. Given the rapidly changing nature of the industry, the programme’s currency is maintained through the upskilling of academic staff, introduction of new courses and the solicitation of requirements from key industry and government stakeholders.

The programme aims to develop core skills for its graduates in a broad range of inter-related ICT areas, initially giving students a solid ground in core computing topics and eventually building them up to be competent specialists in their chosen area.  Core theories form the cornerstone of the programme, with hands-on, applied skills being developed through the Problem-Based Learning (PBL) philosophy. Project work forms another cornerstone of the programme, with an emphasis on projects from the very beginning in Year 1, right through to a final capstone project in semester one of Year 4, followed by an Industry Project in the second semester.

The importance of industry certification in addition to the Bachelor’s degree is also emphasised. Because a significant proportion of the programme is based on industry standard technologies, students are encouraged to take extra certifications to further enhance their employment opportunities.

General entry requirements such as secondary school achievements, English and Mathematics are described in the Student Admission Policy A/AB/010. Specific entry requirements for this qualification, beyond those described in the Student Admission Policy are as follows:

Applicants from secondary schools must demonstrate competence in English and in Mathematics. These requirements may be met by:

• The successful completion of

  • AP4203 English 2

  • AP4102 Mathematics 2 (Technical) or similar

• or  passing English and Mathematics Selection Tests at the required level.

Moreover:

- Bahrain Polytechnic foundation program graduates will be accepted in the Bachelor programs if their GPA is more than 3.

- Bahrain Polytechnic diploma graduates can progress to the higher qualification (Associate Degree or Bachelor) directly if their GPA is more than 2.75 (more than 75%)

- Associate Degree graduates of Bahrain Polytechnic can progress to the higher-level qualification.

All the above may be accepted in the BICT programme according to the availability of seats, per academic year. 

Where there are more applicants who meet the programme entry criteria than can be accepted, the following shall be used:

Selection Criteria

- Successful completion of the Foundation program of Bahrain Polytechnic and demonstration of a commitment to study. 

- Results from programme entry tests.

- Prior educational achievement in Bahrain Polytechnic earlier steps in pathways and work experience.

Selection Process

- The School will determine on a yearly basis the seats available for each of the entry and selection categories

- Additionally, applicants may be required to attend an interview.

Where the number of applicants for the Cyber Security Major exceeds the available places, the following criteria for selection apply:

• First priority to students who have scholarship in the major.

• If further selection required, rank eligible students from above by highest combined GPAs from IT6011 Introduction to Information Security, IT6003 Networking 1 and IT6004 Unix Systems.

None specific to this qualification, but the programme will be brought for accreditation during the follow up visit for BCS - The Chartered Institute of IT, who accredited all the preexisting BICT majors.

Institutional attendance requirements are described in the policy Student Attendance A/AB/006. There are no programme specific attendance requirements.

The qualification encompasses an initial three semesters full-time academic years of study in the broad ICT disciplines at NQF levels 6 and 7, followed by five full-time academic semesters of specialist study at NQF levels 7 and 8.  The intention is to build up core knowledge in a range of areas including programming, operating systems, databases and design techniques in addition to networking and information security. After the first three semesters, the student can then specialize in Cyber Security in areas including network security, threat intelligence, Malware & forensic analysis, Cyber security compliance,  ethical hacking and cyber security in digital transformation. In the final year, this knowledge is consolidated in the form of the in-house, capstone project where students take on a project related to cyber security while managing and documenting the process as they progress. The student also becomes familiar with standard software production practices such as the software development life cycle (requirement analysis and market research, design, implementation, testing and technical documentation) and rapid prototyping. During the cyber security major specialisation stage the student’s expertise is developed in many areas.

The programme aims to develop work-ready, skilled ICT graduates who are aware of the legal, ethical and professional standards required to work in Bahrain and internationally. ICT graduates will be conversant with the latest ICT techniques and technologies to be flexible in the work place and adaptable in a very fast moving field. They will have the skills required to choose the optimal solution for a particular problem and to implement it following professional standards and will have the skills  that enable them to work effectively in teams and to coherently present their ideas in written and oral form to a range of audiences.

The student’s ability to understand how hackers work and to counter  their attacks through threat intelligence, malware analysis. The 
qualification prepares students to work offensively and defensively against hackers and cybercrime by conducting forensics analysis, incident response and other techniques. In the specialization courses students receive exposure to many techniques for preventing data security breaches and help private and public sectors organizations to find the vulnerabilities through penetration testing (System, web, network, applications ..etc). Additionally, students will be able to develop and apply security plans and procedures based on well-known security standards to defend against cyber-attacks.  In the final year, this knowledge is consolidated in the form of the in-house, capstone project where students design and build secure information systems, network or even software according to user requirements while managing and documenting the process as they progress. Also, apply information security and cyber defense principles to the planning, implementing, and monitoring of cybersecurity mechanisms to ensure the protection of information technology assets. During this year, students have the opportunity to work on a wide range of cyber security domains including cryptography, Wireless network, Security Operation Center (SOC) and emergent security techniques (next generation of wireless communication, AI, Blockchain, cyber Warfare, Industrial control systems security).

Typical positions for the networking major graduate include:
•    Security engineer.
•    Ethical Hacker/Penetration Tester.
•    Network Security Engineer.
•    Security Analyst.
•    Information system security officer.
•    Risk/ Vulnerability Analyst.
•    Digital Forensic Analyst.
•    Web Application Security Engineer.
•    SOC Analyst.
•    Cyber Security Analyst.
 

Empolyability Skills Generic Definition:

Communication	Communicate in ways that contribute to productive and harmonious relationships across employees and customers.
Team work	Work effectively independently and in collaboration with others.
Problem solving	Think critically and respond appropriately to changing needs within a growing and diversifying economy.
Initiative and enterprise	Apply resourcefulness, innovation and strategic thinking to a range of workplace situations.
Planning and organisation	Plan and manage their working lives.
Self management	Demonstrate self discipline and adaptability, and be able to plan and achieve personal and professional goals.
Learning	Understand the need for and engage with continuous learning throughout the lifespan.
Technology	Utilize information technology effectively and ethically in their personal and professional lives.