Before anything else, check which ministry you are supposed to walk into. The answer changed twice in eighteen months, and most published guidance — including some pages still live on government domains — names a ministry that no longer exists.
The ministry map changed twice, and most guidance is now wrong
Royal Decree 14/2026, issued 12 January 2026, merged the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation into the Ministry of Education. There is now one ministry, called the Ministry of Education, and competence (6) of the merged body is licensing the establishment of private schools, universities, colleges and higher institutes and monitoring their operations in coordination with the relevant entities. Article 3 transferred the allocations, assets, rights, obligations and staff of both predecessor ministries, effective on issuance. MOHERI no longer exists as a separate ministry.
Before that, Royal Decree 61/2024, issued 5 December 2024 and published in Official Gazette No. 1574 on 8 December 2024, moved the vocational training sector out of MOHERI and into the Ministry of Labour — the competences of providing technical and vocational training linked to labour market needs and of developing training curricula against approved professional standards, together with the assets and staff attached to them. The Ministry of Labour now hosts the General Directorate of Private Training Institutions in its Human Resources Development Sector, and gov.om names the Ministry of Labour as the entity responsible for the private-training licence.
- Private training institute — licensed by the Ministry of Labour, under Ministerial Decision 40/2021.
- Private school — licensed by the Ministry of Education, under Royal Decree 31/2023 and Ministerial Decision 287/2017.
- Private university, college or higher institute — licensed by the Ministry of Education, under competence (6) of Royal Decree 14/2026.
This one is genuinely unresolved, and it matters because walking into the wrong ministry costs weeks. Ministerial Decision 40/2021, the regulation that actually governs private training, still names a directorate of the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation. Royal Decree 61/2024 moved the vocational training sector to the Ministry of Labour but says nothing about the licensing of private training institutions specifically.
Meanwhile gov.om and mol.gov.om both present the Ministry of Labour as the owner of the service and the host of the General Directorate of Private Training Institutions — while the old directorate page on moheri.gov.om is still live, carrying @MOHE.GOV.OM contact addresses. And Royal Decree 14/2026 gives the merged Ministry of Education licensing power over schools, universities, colleges and higher institutes, but not over training institutes.
The practical reading is that the Ministry of Labour licenses training institutes today, because that is where the service and the directorate now sit. But the regulation has not been re-issued to say so, and no government page reconciles the four instruments. Anything that states in the present tense that MOHERI licenses training institutes is out of date.
The two businesses have opposite ownership rules
MD 40/2021 Article 8 sets the licensing conditions, and for an institutional applicant they are short: registration in the Commercial Register with the training activity on it. There is no nationality condition on an institutional training licence. On the face of the regulation, a wholly foreign-owned company registered with the training activity meets the ownership test.
A private school is the opposite. MD 287/2017 Article 17(1) provides in terms that the applicant must be Omani, and that a non-Omani may apply to establish a private school only with an Omani partner. The remainder of Article 17 requires the applicant to be at least 25 years old, of good conduct with no felony convictions, financially solvent, and not an employee of the Ministry.
Education does not appear on Ministerial Decision 209/2020, the list of activities closed to foreign investment, or in its amendments. And Royal Decree 50/2019, the Foreign Capital Investment Law, permits a foreign investor to own an investment project wholly.
So on the investment side a private school looks open to 100% foreign ownership. On the sectoral side, MD 287/2017 Article 17(1) requires an Omani partner for any non-Omani applicant. No government page reconciles the two.
In practice the sectoral regulation is the one the licensing directorate applies, so plan for an Omani partner. Be aware that you may be told the opposite by someone reading only the investment law, and that both readings have an official instrument behind them.
Private training institutes: what MD 40/2021 requires
Ministerial Decision 40/2021, the Regulation of Private Training, was issued on 12 April 2021 and published in Official Gazette No. 1390 on 2 May 2021, repealing MD 490/2010. It remains the operative instrument; only the administering ministry has changed. It defines private training as training activities licensed by the Directorate, and a certificate as a document authenticated by the Directorate — the first sign that this is a supervised activity rather than a registration formality.
- Institutions — registration in the Commercial Register with the training activity. No nationality condition.
- Individuals — Omani nationality; an academic, technical or professional qualification in the field of training recognised in Oman; and experience in the field of the training activity (see the flag below). The individual must not own, or be a partner in, another private training institution.
- No combining — an individual licence and an institutional licence may not be held together.
As rendered on qanoon.om, Article 8 requires an individual applicant to have not less than twenty years of experience in the field of the training activity.
That is anomalously high for an individual trainer licence, and it is exactly the kind of figure that can be a transcription artefact in an aggregated text. We have not been able to confirm it against the Official Gazette original.
Treat it as reported rather than settled. If you are applying as an individual rather than through a company, ask the directorate what the experience requirement is before you build a file around a twenty-year assumption.
Getting the training licence
- Register the training activity on your commercial registration.
- Submit the application through the Invest Easily system on the prescribed form, with the supporting documents — including proof of ownership of the company's headquarters, a project plan document, and, for an individual applicant, a non-conviction certificate.
- Have premises ready that include administrative offices, a director's office, a reception area and training halls.
- Pay the licence fee of OMR 250.
- Wait for the decision — or for the deadline to pass, which amounts to the same thing.
The Directorate must decide within a maximum of 30 days, and silence is approval: if the period passes without a decision, the application is treated as accepted. Where the file is deficient you get 30 days to remedy it. The licence runs for 3 years, renewable for like periods, and the renewal application must be filed at least 30 days before expiry. gov.om gives the processing time as 2 days and the renewal fee as the same OMR 250.
Three obligations in Article 14 catch people out. Article 14(1) requires an institutional licensee to maintain independent premises meeting the conditions in the operational guide. Article 14(4) prohibits starting any training programme before the Directorate has approved it — the licence lets you operate, it does not pre-approve your course catalogue, and each programme is a separate approval. Article 14(7) requires trainee and staff data and administrative records to be retained for at least 10 years.
The three classification categories
| Category | Score | What it allows |
|---|---|---|
| Category One | 85–100% | Government support, international programmes, multiple branches, professional diplomas |
| Category Two | 75–85% | International programmes and multiple branches |
| Category Three | 60–75% | Local courses only; no additional branches until reclassified |
Scoring runs across six elements: management documents, human resources, physical resources, career guidance, the training curriculum and examination methods. The classification is not cosmetic. Ministerial Decision 157/2018, as amended, restricts professional diploma programmes to Category One institutions. A professional diploma must be competency-based with internationally benchmarked outcomes, run for a minimum of 2 years, include foundation coursework in English, mathematics and IT, include 8 weeks of field training under employer partnerships, be accredited in its country of origin, and carry at least 60 credit hours split 20–40% theory and 60–80% practical.
Training-institute penalties
- Written warning, with 7 days to comply.
- Administrative fine of OMR 250 to OMR 1,000.
- Licence suspension for up to 30 days, renewable.
- Licence cancellation for 6 months of non-operation, for repeat violations, or where the licence was obtained fraudulently.
Private schools: the law and the regulation
Royal Decree 31/2023, the School Education Law, was issued on 18 May 2023 and repealed RD 68/1977. Article 15 provides that the Ministry grants licences to individuals, companies and private institutions to establish schools, and that no private school may operate without ministerial authorisation. Article 6 makes Arabic the official language of instruction, with other languages requiring ministerial approval — which is the legal hook under which English-medium and international schools are permitted rather than assumed. Article 42 requires non-discrimination in admission, and Article 39 allows the Ministry to grant scholarships to private-school students up to the average annual cost per student in government schools.
The detail sits in Ministerial Decision 287/2017, the Regulation of Private Schools — 12 chapters and 119 articles, issued 18 September 2017 and published in Official Gazette No. 1212 on 1 October 2017, repealing MD 26/2006. It was amended by Ministerial Decision 30/2023 of 29 January 2023. There is no official consolidated text combining the two: the Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs hosts the original, qanoon.om hosts both separately, and you have to read them side by side.
Who may apply, and the bank guarantee
- Apply for preliminary approval with the required documents.
- Obtain Education Council approval.
- Provide the bank guarantee at the level set for the school type.
- Complete the building and pass inspection within 12 months.
- Pay the licence-confirmation fee and receive the licence.
| School level | Bank guarantee | Instrument |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-school only | OMR 5,000 | MD 287/2017 Art. 22 |
| Pre-school to grade 4 | OMR 15,000 | MD 287/2017 Art. 22 |
| Pre-school to grade 12 | OMR 30,000 | MD 287/2017 Art. 22 |
| Global schools category | OMR 150,000 | Undated MOE document — see below |
MD 287/2017 Article 22 sets the guarantee at OMR 5,000 for a pre-school, OMR 15,000 up to grade 4 and OMR 30,000 up to grade 12. That is a dated, gazetted instrument, and it is the figure we would plan against.
But an undated document published by the Ministry of Education's Directorate General of Private Schools, covering the separate global schools category, states a minimum capital requirement of an OMR 150,000 bank guarantee. It sits on an official ministry domain.
The two have different scope, and the MOE document may predate MD 287/2017. Neither acknowledges the other. If you are aiming at the international or global end of the market, get the applicable figure confirmed in writing before you commit capital — the gap between them is OMR 120,000.
Article 25 gives the school licence a term of 3 years, renewable for like periods on continued compliance. The same three-year cycle as a training institute, arrived at through a far heavier process.
The building, and the specification nobody publishes
Article 51 requires prior approval before construction, on submission of land ownership documents and an architectural plan showing buildings, facilities, courtyards and classroom areas. Article 52 imposes the siting rule people most often trip over: the school must sit on a single land parcel within one perimeter. Multiple buildings are allowed only inside the same enclosure, and shared entrances with adjacent properties are not permitted — so a school assembled from two adjoining villas on separate plots does not comply. Articles 53 to 56 add that no modification may be made without written approval, that facilities may be used only for authorised educational purposes, that evening and holiday use needs approval, and that the site must provide shaded areas protecting students from direct sun and accessible drinking water near sports areas.
Article 50 requires buildings to meet all the technical specifications approved by the Directorate. We could not locate that specification anywhere. No page on moe.gov.om or gov.om publishes a classroom minimum in square metres, a playground area, a laboratory or library size, a maximum number of students per class, or a toilet-to-student ratio for Omani private schools. That is unusual — the equivalent figures for private health facilities are published in detail — and it means any square-metre figure quoted to you for an Omani private school cannot be checked against a public source. Ask the Directorate for the current specification in writing before you brief an architect.
Safety and school transport
- Integrated fire protection systems.
- Emergency evacuation plans, with drills twice a year.
- CCTV coverage for the full school day.
- School transport vehicles meeting safety standards, drivers with at least 5 years of experience and no criminal record, and at least one supervisor per vehicle.
Staff you are required to appoint
Article 63 requires the principal to be appointed by the board of trustees, to be full-time, and to hold no other position; a pre-school or grades 1–4 school with 50 students or fewer may instead assign the supervisory role to a female staff member with Ministry approval. Article 65 is the rule foreign operators miss: a deputy principal is mandatory where the school has 200 or more students, or teaches grade 4 and above, or where the principal is non-Arab — and where the principal is non-Arab, the deputy must be of Arab nationality.
- Learning-difficulties teacher — from grade 1.
- Psychologist or social worker — at 200+ students, or grade 6 and above.
- Learning-resource specialist — from grade 1.
- Nurse — at 200+ students.
- Database specialist — at 200+ students, or grade 5 and above.
- Laboratory technician — from grade 5.
- Career counsellor — from grade 8.
Article 66 requires all teaching and administrative staff to be appointed at least 30 days before the school year, with written Ministry approval for each appointment — build that into your recruitment calendar, because a late hire is not simply a late hire. Article 67 restricts appointments for pre-school through grade 4 to women. Article 58 requires a board of trustees of at least five members, odd-numbered, including a parent representative, two education experts and the principal, all aged 25 or over, of good character, and not employees of the Ministry. What Article 67 does not do is set a teacher qualification standard: it defers to conditions determined by the Ministry, and no published circular sets a minimum degree level, teaching licence or number of years for a private-school teacher in Oman.
Curriculum, and what international actually means
Article 78 makes Islamic education, Arabic and social studies, in the Ministry-approved versions, mandatory for grades 1 to 12, whatever the rest of the curriculum is. Article 83 requires curricula to be selected from Ministry-approved lists. Article 96 subjects the school's assessment system to Ministry approval unless the school adopts the government system. The definitions in Article 1 set a minimum of 180 instructional days per academic year. The Ministry's own description of its Department of Private Schools confirms that it authorises establishment and renewal, monitors compliance, and approves tuition fees and international curricula.
Ministerial Decision 30/2023 added a classification. Article 21 bis distinguishes educational kindergartens, early-childhood schools, general private schools running single, bilingual or international programmes, and international private schools — and provides that school names may not be translated into other languages. Article 21 bis 1 requires an international private school to hold academic accreditation from an international body, deliver approved international curricula through grade 12, employ staff with expertise in international programmes, and run continuous professional development. Schools were given one year to comply.
Article 85 bis, added by MD 30/2023, provides that where an international school does not offer grades 11 and 12 for two academic years, the Ministry removes the international designation automatically.
That is worth knowing as a parent as much as an operator. A school marketing itself as international but stopping at grade 10 — a common shape for a young school building up year by year — is on a two-year clock.
Tuition fees: approval comes before announcement
Article 112 is the provision both owners and parents get wrong. Immediately upon obtaining the licence, the licensee must apply to the Ministry for approval of the tuition fees. Fees may not be announced or collected before that approval, and the Ministry may adjust the proposed fees up or down. Fee-setting is not a commercial decision the school makes and then notifies.
Article 113 goes further: the licensee may not charge for any activity or service without prior written Ministry approval. Trips, buses, after-school clubs, registration charges — each is a chargeable item requiring approval, not a line the school may add at will. Article 114 allows increases to be requested only during specified periods, on the approved form, and states expressly that submitting a request places the Ministry under no obligation to approve it.
Article 115 requires the licensee to announce the tuition fees, activity fees, school-service fees and the payment schedule in a visible place at the school and on the school's website, before enrolment opens, with a clear allocation per instalment. A school taking registrations without published fees is not complying with Article 115.
Article 116 limits what a school may do about non-payment. Students may not be barred from examinations or expelled for unpaid fees, though results may be withheld pending settlement; non-payment does permit exclusion from the following school year, with the Ministry transferring the student to a government school. On the enforcement side, Article 96 of RD 31/2023 provides administrative fines of up to OMR 10,000, doubled for a repeat offence within two years, plus daily fines for a continuing violation up to an aggregate of OMR 5,000.
What no official source publishes
- No technical specification for private school buildings. MD 287/2017 Article 50 defers to one; none is published anywhere on an Omani government domain — no classroom area, no playground area, no students per class, no toilet ratios.
- No fee schedule for private-school licensing. Beyond the bank guarantee there is no published application, licence or renewal fee, and the gov.om catalogue has no service page for establishing a private school. Contrast training institutes at OMR 250, and private clinics, where the whole fee table is gazetted.
- No minimum teacher qualification. Article 67 defers to the Ministry; no circular setting one is published.
- No Omanisation percentage for education. The Labour Law, Royal Decree 53/2023, delegates percentages to ministerial decision, and no decision setting education-sector ratios is published on qanoon.om or mol.gov.om. No teaching or training profession appears on the published lists of professions closed to non-Omanis.
- No premises standards guide for training institutions. MD 40/2021 Article 14(1) refers to one; only the high-level list — administrative offices, director's office, reception, training halls — appears on the directorate page. No square-metre figure exists anywhere official.
- No implementing regulation of the Higher Education Law, Royal Decree 27/2023. So licence duration, capital requirements and staff criteria for a private university or college have no traceable published figure at all.
- No scoring rubric for the training classification beyond the 60–75, 75–85 and 85–100% bands.
One more thing worth saying plainly, because it wastes people's time. Searching in Arabic for the licensing of a private training institution returns Bahraini, Saudi, Emirati, Egyptian and Libyan instruments at the top of the results, and the UAE government portal's page on private-school rules ranks high on Omani private-school queries. None of them describe Oman. If a page mentions KHDA, ADEK, MOHAP, DED or Dubai Municipality, it is describing a different country — Oman has no equivalent of any of them, and the numbers do not transfer.
Does the Ministry of Higher Education still exist in Oman?
Who licenses a private training institute in Oman now?
Can a foreigner open a private school in Oman?
Can a foreigner own a private training institute in Oman?
How much does it cost to license a training institute in Oman, and how long does it take?
How much is the bank guarantee for a private school in Oman?
Our office in Al Ghubra can file the commercial registration, add the training activity, and put the open questions above to the Ministry of Labour or the Ministry of Education directly rather than leaving you to guess at a counter. Everything here comes from the instruments listed below; where they disagree, we have said so rather than picking a side.