Ministry of Manpower cancels licences of 50 training institutions

Muscat: Ministry of Manpower (MoM) has cancelled the licenses of 24 training institutes and 26 training service offices.
According to officials, these training centres will be no longer operate under the supervision of the ministry.
In a statement, MoM said, “The ministry announces the cancellation of licenses for a number of private training centres. As per Article 83 of Ministerial Decree No. 490/2010, these training institutions will no longer be under the supervision of the ministry. Because of this, the ministry will not be liable for any claims that arise from these cancelled centres.”
More than 45 of the cancelled training centres were in Muscat governorate, according to the ministry. Dr Amal Al Mujaini, Director General of the General Directorate of Occupational Standards and Curriculum Development at the Ministry of Manpower, told Times of Oman that most of those cancelled training institutions had been inactive for more than one year, while others did not renew their licenses.
“The regulation of the private training institutions in their articles (9.78, 79) states that the cancellation of any institution is carried out according to the procedures of field follow-up of the training activity of this institution, monitoring violations and observations and addressing the institution in accordance with Article 16,” she said.
“The reasons for the cancellation of the training institution vary because of the observed violations stipulated in the articles, including the suspension of the activity of private training institution for more than six months without the approval of the Directorate,” she added.
Article 9 allows the institution to suspend its activities for three months, provided that no training activity was carried out during this period. The special training institution shall also be canceled if the training license has expired and has not applied for renewal of the license within three months from the expired date.
Al Mujauni explained that special training institutions shall also be canceled if it is found that the license for the establishment of the private training institution has been issued on the basis of incorrect information.
“One of the reasons for cancellation, is a change in the institution’s legal status, for example from an institute to a training service office. This will lead to the cancellation of the previous legal status, and the issuance of a new one.”
To apply for establishing a private training centre, as per article 36 of the executive regulations of the private training centres, an applicant must be an Omani citizen or GCC national who is a resident of Oman. The applicant should be not less than 21-years-old, have a minimum qualification of a general education diploma, and must not have been convicted of any crime that violated their honour or honesty. “The Directorate is keen on supporting serious institutions that provide quality training which supports national cadres, and provides the labour market with a trained and qualified workforce.”