Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2019, published 109th ILC session (2021)

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

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 also noted that the Children’s Act of 2014, states that the minimum age for admission to employment is 15 years (section 46). The Committee requested the Government take the necessary measures to raise the minimum age for admission to employment from 15 to 16 years of age.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication in its report that this question is still under examination by the relevant authorities. 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.

Labour inspection and the application of the Convention in practice. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that this question is still under examination by the relevant authorities. 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.