Doha, Qatar: The Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MoEHE) has launched Developed Licensing System for Private Schools and Private Kindergartens, adopting multi-year educational licences (from 3 to 5 years) instead of the current annual licensing system.
The implementation of the new system will follow a timeline starting this month, with the basic licences being granted gradually until the end of December 2027, followed by the phase of granting the advanced licences to outstanding schools starting from January 2026 until December 2030. The announcement was made at a press conference yesterday attended by MoEHE Undersecretary Dr. Ibrahim bin Saleh Al-Nuaimi, Assistant Undersecretary for Private Education Affairs Omar Abdulaziz Al-Naama, and representatives of private schools.
Addressing the press conference, Director of the Private Schools and Kindergartens Department and Acting Director of the Private School Licensing Department, Dr. Rania Mohammed said the new system focuses on extending the educational license period to be three years (for the basic license) and five years (for the advanced license), instead of the current short durations.”
She said: “The system is based on Law No. (23) of 2015 and aims to achieve the State’s strategic direction towards strengthening partnership with the private sector, supporting investment and expansion in the opening of private education facilities, stimulating private schools toward excellence and administrative stability, and reducing administrative and financial burdens on schools and the Ministry.” Mohammed said that the system features an unprecedented structure and design to link the license duration to the school’s quality level. The Basic Educational License (3 years) is granted to new and existing schools that meet all regulatory requirements, providing a cumulative reduction in payments for the investor of up to 59% over ten years, compared to the annual renewal system.
Meanwhile, she said, the Advanced Level Educational License (5 years) is granted to outstanding existing schools that demonstrate high and stable performance, which achieves a reduction in financial burdens of up to 80% over ten years.
To qualify for the Advanced License (5 years), Mohammed said, the school must meet strict quality standards that ensure adherence to national criteria, including: obtaining a recognised national or international school accreditation, achieving an evaluation of no less than “Very Good” in the teaching competence of teachers for the three mandatory subjects (Arabic Language, Islamic Education, and History of Qatar) in the last two supervisory visits, achieving a staff stability rate of no less than 70% in the basic administrative and teaching staff, and having no severe penalties imposed on the school during the last two years.
To address the challenge of linking the license to documents with annual validity (such as traffic approvals, commercial registration, and others), she said that the Ministry adopted a mechanism that ensures continuous safety and security, including the extension of Civil Defense, where the General Directorate of Civil Defense reported that it is in the process of granting a fire prevention validity certificate for a period of 5 years.
Mohammed said that it also includes ensuring annual compliance, where schools are obligated to sign a pledge to take responsibility for the annual renewal of short-term licenses.
She said that the mechanism also includes technical inspection of the building, where consulting offices are committed to submitting a follow-up report on the building’s security and safety every 18 months, ensuring compliance with safety standards.
