Management of child care centres in Oman to be transferred to Education Ministry

Muscat: All child care centres in the Sultanate will gradually be transferred from the domain of the Ministry of Social Development (MoSD) to the Ministry of Education (MoE).
The decision was taken during a meeting between the ministries and representatives of Omani Women Association held recently.
Dr. Badr Al Mawali, undersecretary of the MoSD, said the centres will be included in the education system and the quality of services offered at the centres, for children between three and six years, will be improved once they fall under the umbrella of the MoE.
Al Mawali also referred to the Convention on the Rights of the Child that the Sultanate had joined in 1996, in addition to the Child Law, which was passed
in 2014. “It asks all of us to do our best to ensure that better facilities are offered to children.”
He added that realising this agreement needed time and that it should be implemented step
by step. “We have been discussing this issue with the MoE for more than a year and now we are consulting the women’s associations.”
Al Mawali noted that it might take two years before all centres are transferred to the MoE. Oman passed a new Child Law in 2014, giving children several rights, including the right to participate in educational
programmes. According to the MoSD, there are currently 57 pre-school facilities located throughout the Sultanate, which are managed by branches of the Omani Women Association and serve 8,116 children and 12 day-care centres serving 1,707 children from the age of three until school age.
Najla bint Mohammed Al Zadjalia, head of the Children’s Nurturing Institutions at MoSD, said the child care centres need to follow a plan and learning method that will meet the needs of this age group. She further stated that the centres being brought under one umbrella would unify the efforts and services offered to children, which will improve the quality and prepare the staff for training programmes.