MUSCAT:  Meethaq Islamic Banking from Bank Muscat, in line with its commitment to Omani youth and the development of the country, has signed an agreement with ABQ Education Group (Al Omania Education Services Company) to provide financing options to parents for paying their children’s school fees. The agreement was signed by Shamzani Mohammed Hussain, General Manager – Meethaq Islamic Banking and Humayun Kabir, CEO, ABQ Education Group, in the presence of a number of officials.

The agreement comes within the strategy of Meethaq Islamic Bank to provide banking and financial services complying with Islamic Sharia principles to individuals and institutions across various fields and sectors. Meethaq has had many achievements since its launch in 2012 and has been contributing majorly to the growth and development of the Sultanate’s economy. It extends support to all key economic sectors with innovative Shari’a based products and is today well positioned to sustain Islamic financial expertise.

Meethaq Education Finance works under the principle of Service Ijarah (ijarah tul khidmat) wherein Meethaq leases the education services through an operator service provider and shall sub-lease the required service. Unlike conventional education finance, Meethaq Islamic banking does not provide cash for availing educational services. The bank will arrange education services according to its customers’ requirements and shall provide the same to its customers through education service providers against deferred payments by concluding a Service Ijarah contract.

Meethaq’s Education Finance has some of the best features in education financing products in the country including 100% financing facility for the entire education cost, easy installment plans, competitive pricing and free life Takaful coverage. Omani nationals with a minimum monthly salary of RO 250 and expatriates with a minimum monthly salary of RO 300 can avail of Meethaq Education Finance provided they meet the other eligibility conditions.

Meethaq is particularly proud to be engaged in collaborative partnership with premier educational institutions in Oman and together with Bank Muscat, provides a wide range of products and services to the educational sector in Oman. The adoption of Accounting & Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) standards) distinguishes Meethaq Islamic banking practices in terms of standardisation of products and services. Every Meethaq product goes through the process of Shari’a compliance certification by the Shari’a Supervisory Board and is created in line with the guidelines of the Central Bank of Oman.

The ABQ Education Group is the largest international school operator in Oman with three high performing schools offering personalised, engaging learning in a caring, multicultural setting for over 3,500 students from more than 45 countries. The schools run by the Group boast of an excellent student to teacher ratio of 12:1 and follow the Cambridge International and the GED curriculum. The Group schools together have been ranked # 1 in Oman in 2017, 2018 and 2019 at the Outstanding Cambridge Learner Awards. ABQ Group schools also have the unique distinction in Oman of membership of the world’s top accreditation bodies – CIS, COBIS, BSME and eCIS. The schools operated by the Group are Azzan Bin Qais International, Seeb International and Sohar International.