Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2016, published 106th ILC session (2017)

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Oman (Ratification: 2005)

Other comments on C138

Direct Request

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Article 2(3) of the Convention. Age of completion of compulsory education. The Committee previously noted that basic education in Oman is of a ten-year duration, and is normally completed by 16 years of age. The Committee observed that education, though it is provided free of charge, is not compulsory. The Committee also noted the Government’s statement that the subject of raising the minimum age for admission to employment from 15 years to 16 years was being examined by the competent bodies.

The Committee notes the Government’s statement in its report that it is examining this matter. The Committee also notes that the Children’s Act, which was promulgated on 19 May 2014, states that the minimum age for admission to employment as 15 years (section 46). Moreover, section 36 provides that education in public schools until completion of the post-primary stage is free, while also providing that primary education is compulsory. The Committee also notes the Government’s replies to the list of issues in relation to the combined third and fourth periodic reports for the Committee on the Rights of the Child of 30 December 2015 (CRC/C/OMN/Q/3-4/Add.1, Part II, paragraph (a)) that, the School Education Act, in which reference is made to the compulsory nature of the basic stage of education, is in the process of being approved. The Committee once again reminds the Government that pursuant to Article 2(3) of the Convention, the minimum age specified should not be less than the age of completion of schooling. Furthermore, the Committee once again emphasizes the importance of linking the age of school completion with the minimum age for admission to work or employment. If the minimum age for admission to work (15 years of age) is lower than the age of completion of school (16 years of age), children may be encouraged to leave school as children required to attend school may also be legally authorized to work (see General Survey of 2012 on the fundamental Conventions concerning rights at work, paragraph 370). The Committee therefore once again requests that the Government take the necessary measures to raise the minimum age for admission to employment from 15 to 16 years of age, in order to link this age with the age of completion of schooling, in conformity with Article 2(3) of the Convention.

Article 3(2). Determination of hazardous types of work. With regard to the adoption of the list of hazardous types of work, the Committee refers to its detailed comments under the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182).

Labour inspection and the application of the Convention in practice. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the information in the UN joint submission (drafted by United Nations field presences at both country and regional levels) to the Universal Periodic Review of the UN Human Rights Council of January 2011 that, while child labour did not exist in any formal industry, concerns had been raised in recent years relating to children working in the informal economy in Oman. The Committee noted the Government’s reiteration that the participation of children in small family undertakings such as agriculture and fishing are considered to be family activities, in which children of the household help with family-related work.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the assistance provided by children to their parents is not set within a labour framework, but falls under a special type of social activity. The Committee also notes that, section 46 of the Children’s Act of 2014 provides that the minimum age (15 years of age) for admission to work does not apply to the employment of children in agricultural, fishing or artisanal, craft or administrative occupations in family businesses in which employment is restricted to the members of a single household, provided that such work is not likely to impede the child’s education or impair the child’s health or development. In this regard, the Committee once again recalls that the Government did not, at the time of ratification, avail itself of the possibility, under Article 4 of the Convention, of excluding family work or informal agricultural activities from the scope of the Convention. Therefore, the participation of children under the minimum age for admission to employment or work in child labour in small family undertakings must be prohibited, in conformity with the Convention. The Committee therefore once again requests that the Government take measures, within the framework of initiatives to improve its labour inspection system, to strengthen the capacity and expand the reach of the labour inspectorate, to ensure the effective monitoring of children working in the informal economy and in small family undertakings. It also once again requests that the Government continue to provide information on the manner in which the Convention is applied in practice.