DOHA: A new law is on the anvil to regulate private schools. Its draft was approved by the State Cabinet yesterday.
Once it comes into effect after the necessary approvals, the law would empower the Supreme Education Council (SEC) to take over a private school temporarily in case of a serious complaint.
However, the SEC, the licensing authority for private schools, would not control an errant school for more than one academic year, the draft suggests.
The SEC would have the power to launch investigations against a private school, including those run by communities, and its employees in the event of a serious complaint.
If a school is found breaching provisions of the proposed law, its licence can be cancelled or its financial grant stopped, or it can be taken over temporarily.
The second part of the draft law deals with coaching classes and training centres for languages, computer science, secretarial services, and accounting and management courses. All these centres will be licensed and monitored by the SEC, Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported yesterday.
The draft law, which also deals extensively with licensing procedures, is to be forwarded to the Advisory Council for review and recommendations.
Once it comes into force, all private schools must comply with its provisions within a year.
However, the Minister may extend this deadline for another year. The grace period for coaching classes and training centres would be six months. This deadline can also be extended by the Minister.
The law wouldn’t, though, apply to educational or training services provided by the government or non-government organisations to their employees.
There are an estimated 154 private schools in Qatar, according to the latest data. Some 138,174 students are enrolled in these institutions, which employ thousands of teachers and administrative staff.
Their job contracts would, arguably, need to be endorsed by the SEC. QNA, however, didn’t say if this provision is in the draft law.THE PENINSULA
