Muscat: Public and private educational institutions must provide medical aid and have a qualified nurse to do so, according to a new Child Protection Law issued by Oman’s Ministry of Social Development.

The new law also states that the Public and private educational institutions should maintain a health record for each child and commit to implement school health programmes approved by the Ministry of Health and provide safety and security for children.

Article 5 read, “no examination or therapeutic intervention of the child shall be made in health institutions without the presence of a companion with the child, except in cases of emergency determined by the doctor on duty.”

The law added a list of traditional practices that harm the child, including the practice of any rituals that lead to harm or mutilated the child’s body or caused his/her death. The executive regulation also stipulated the prohibition of the employment of children under 15 years.

Children can be employed only in agricultural, fishing, industrial, handicraft and administrative works, provided that the work is within the same family, which includes the father, mother, grandfather, grandmother and brothers, male and female, according to the new Law.

Article 10 of the law states that children can be employed only at work where the work is within the family and it also adds that the employer must conduct a medical examination of the child before his employment and periodically every six months and at the end of service to ensure his safety.