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Since the early Renaissance era, anchored by His majesty the Sultan of Oman, the government created a good opportunity for the private sector - individuals and institutions and companies - to invest in the field of education through the establishment of private schools that provide education to the children of the Sultanate and residents. According to the educational statistics available to the Ministry of Education in the academic year 72/73 there were only two private schools with a total of (115) students, distributed on the stage of pre-school education and elementary school, as the number of faculty only (12) teachers. The private schools number continued its growth vertically and horizontally in terms of the number of schools and school stages and the number of students enrolled, bringing the number of schools in (2005/2006) to (158) private schools where the number of students acceded twenty-eight thousand student.

Supervision of private schools and organs:

The Ministry of Education - represented by the Department of private schools and departments of private schools in regional educational directories – organize the task of supervising technical and administrative staff of private schools; oversight functions include the following areas:

- Preparation of projects and plans for the development of private schools and monitor the implementation of those plans.
- Follow-up of the educational process of schools for technical and administrative, and ensure their commitment to the systems in place, instructions and directives issued by the ministry.

- Authorize the establishment of special schools for the different levels of education and the renewal of licenses and modifications.

- Coordination between private schools and departments of the ministry and other relevant institutions.

- Determining the validity of candidates to work in private schools in the light of the standards of efficiency set by the ministry.

- The official approval of registration and transfer of students from private schools and to them.

- Take the necessary action in case of violations of private schools to the provisions of regulation for private schools.

- The official approval of programs and qualifications, and international approaches applied by the private schools.

- The official approval of tuition fees.

- Assessment and classification of the educational performance of private schools in a comprehensive manner.

The supervisory bodies of private schools are made up of an administrative system consisting (5) sections, namely:

- Department of educational programs.
- Department of kindergarten.
- Department of Student Affairs.
- Licensing Department.

There is a department of private schools also in each district of the general directorates of education in areas of the Sultanate entrusted with the task of supervising and follow-up at schools at the region, and there is a constant cooperation and constant coordination between the Department of Private Schools and departments in the regions to achieve the integration of administrative and technical correlation.

School buildings:
There are (33) private school buildings have been built according to the conditions specified by the Ministry, while the rest of the private schools, uses residential buildings which meet the basic requirements of the educational building. The Ministry of Education has allowed this procedure in aid to the private sector to encourage investment in education.

Educational programs in private schools:

Basic Education
Schools began to apply basic education in the academic year 99/2000 the Ministry of Education has given approval for a number of school (11) for the application of the system, and school administrations have been able to provide all of the requirements of the application of basic education, preparation of a learning resource centers and provision of furniture and hardware and equipment according to specifications, then, the number of private schools applies basic education is in increased year after year, by the year (2005/2006) Basic Education System has been applied in all private schools.


Pre-school education
With the onset of kindergarten, which coincided with the emergence of private schools as institutions, the kindergartens did not have specified unified curriculum,
but a kindergarten curriculum formed of various courses based foremost on the experience of the teachers, and the methods in hand, focused on the teaching of Mathematics without taking into account the needs of these children to satisfy their desires to play, which can learn from many of the concepts and gain more experience and knowledge. The situation continued on this case since 1972 until the early eighties of the last century. Based on quality control principles of early childhood, the Ministry of Education made great strides in terms of:


First: Identify the controls and the foundations for this educational level through the regulation of private schools and the working guide:

Insight of the ministry to provide an appropriate educational environment for children, and through the regulation and their working guide to determine the conditions and specifications of the kindergarten building and its furniture and the teaching facilities, to make it easier for investors to stand on the terms and conditions of the establishment of a private kindergarten, and provide the right learning environment.


Second: create kindergarten circle in directorate of private schools:

The supervision and administration of kindergarten was run by the special schools directory until 1988 , after the restructuring of the private schools cycle in the 1998 a section was set up for kindergartens, the tasks of the section has been identified to oversee the technical supervision of public kindergartens, and follow-up study of curriculum implementation in these institutions.

Yet increasing the number of kindergartens in the Sultanate showed the urgent need for technical supervision in all regions of the Sultanate, in 2003/2004 the educational directories all over the sultanate was provided with well qualified cadre with intensive training on the Omani Curriculum .



Third: the composing the Omani kindergarten curriculum:

Based on the kindergarten curriculum applied in one of the AGCC states; and after the necessary adjustments to the curriculum to suit the needs and requirements of the Omani child; a new composed curriculum consists (6) child experiences and a guide for every teacher.


In 1993 a new experience was added under the name of (Oman my country) to manifest citizenship and bride in his country. The ministry of education ensured the support of the curriculum with this unit through a meaningful context and to be applied in encouraging environment that grantee successful self-awareness of his identity and experience its manifestation and initiate the gradual involvement towards the configuration of the good patriotic citizen.