MUSCAT // Social workers and campaigners in Oman are calling on the government to begin regulating private religious schools after dozens of abuse cases last year.
According to statistics from Oman’s courts, there were 36 cases of Quran teachers molesting children in 2016, but campaigners say the incidence of abuse is far higher because not all cases are reported.
Not all of Oman’s Quran schools are registered because there is no law that requires it. The government is aware of their existence but they are allowed to carry on because it is part of a long tradition in the country to have the schools outside mainstream education.
There are no figures for the number of Quran schools in the country, but social workers estimate that there are more than 500 scattered across the sultanate.
“Fewer such cases go to court because parents of victims are ashamed to make it public that their children have been molested. It is not getting any better and the government must monitor and regulate these Quran schools to stop the abuse,” said Samir Al Naamani, a campaigner whose relative was abused two years ago.
One parent said his 11-year old daughter was expelled from a Quran school when she resisted the groping of the male teacher.
“I took the law into my hands and beat up the teacher then later reported it to the police. I got three days in jail for beating him up but because I had no evidence, he could not be prosecuted but his school was shut down,” the father said
Khadija Al Araimi, a social worker with the Omani Women’s Association who specialises in child abuse cases, said the lack of regulation made it hard for the authorities to catch the abusers.
“We have people teaching Quran in the back rooms of their houses or in the mosques. They don’t need licensing because Quran teaching is traditionally taught outside the normal school hours, either at weekends or in the afternoons. Because these schools are not regulated, some teachers quietly abuse little children and it takes time to detect it,” she said.
Last week, outrage erupted in the sultanate when a judge handed a minimum sentence to a confessed rapist who abused children sent to him for Quran and Islamic studies. Under Omani law, the statutory sentence for all rape offences is five to 15 years.
Typically, children attending the Quran schools are aged between 5 and 12. Smaller Quran schools, operated in private homes by friends of the families, may have fewer than 10 children.
However, mosques can take up to 100 students taught by several teachers. These two categories normally are free, but some established private schools conduct Quran teaching in the afternoon, after regular school classes and charge from 25 to 40 rials a month.
Other campaigners said all Quran schools, regardless of where they operate, must be licensed and regularly inspected, as they are in the UAE. Teachers must also be screened and approved by the authorities.
“There should be a ban on Quran schools operating in the backstreets without a licence and all of them should be immediately closed down,” said Marwan Al Hashmi, a trainee criminal lawyer at a law firm based in Muscat. “No one should open Quran schools without a licence, and teachers must be qualified and the government must screen them before they are allowed to teach the Quran.”
He also urged the government to ensure that the standard of Quran teaching is monitored, regulated and follows the government’s religious studies curriculum.
A ministry of commerce official said that Quran teaching falls under the category of “religious obligation” because teachers do not demand payment. However, he acknowledged there was a need to regulate religious schools.
“They are not commercial institutions and certainly don’t fall under the category of charity. However, because many of the schools keep being set up because of demands from parents, we acknowledge that they need to be licensed. We will certainly put forward the recommendations of the social workers and campaigners to propose the licensing and monitoring of Quran teaching.”
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
RESULTS
Cagliari 5-2 Fiorentina
Udinese 0-0 SPAL
Sampdoria 0-0 Atalanta
Lazio 4-2 Lecce
Parma 2-0 Roma
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Know your cyber adversaries
Cryptojacking: Compromises a device or network to mine cryptocurrencies without an organisation's knowledge.
Distributed denial-of-service: Floods systems, servers or networks with information, effectively blocking them.
Man-in-the-middle attack: Intercepts two-way communication to obtain information, spy on participants or alter the outcome.
Malware: Installs itself in a network when a user clicks on a compromised link or email attachment.
Phishing: Aims to secure personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.
Ransomware: Encrypts user data, denying access and demands a payment to decrypt it.
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Trojans: Create a backdoor into systems, which becomes a point of entry for an attack.
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If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
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Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
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US interest in purchasing territory is not as outlandish as it sounds. Here's a look at some big land transactions between nations:
Louisiana Purchase
If Donald Trump is one who aims to broker "a deal of the century", then this was the "deal of the 19th Century". In 1803, the US nearly doubled in size when it bought 2,140,000 square kilometres from France for $15 million.
Florida Purchase Treaty
The US courted Spain for Florida for years. Spain eventually realised its burden in holding on to the territory and in 1819 effectively ceded it to America in a wider border treaty.
Alaska purchase
America's spending spree continued in 1867 when it acquired 1,518,800 km2 of Alaskan land from Russia for $7.2m. Critics panned the government for buying "useless land".
The Philippines
At the end of the Spanish-American War, a provision in the 1898 Treaty of Paris saw Spain surrender the Philippines for a payment of $20 million.
US Virgin Islands
It's not like a US president has never reached a deal with Denmark before. In 1917 the US purchased the Danish West Indies for $25m and renamed them the US Virgin Islands.
Gwadar
The most recent sovereign land purchase was in 1958 when Pakistan bought the southwestern port of Gwadar from Oman for 5.5bn Pakistan rupees.
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ARABIAN GULF LEAGUE FIXTURES
Thursday, September 21
Al Dahfra v Sharjah (kick-off 5.35pm)
Al Wasl v Emirates (8.30pm)
Friday, September 22
Dibba v Al Jazira (5.25pm)
Al Nasr v Al Wahda (8.30pm)
Saturday, September 23
Hatta v Al Ain (5.25pm)
Ajman v Shabab Al Ahli (8.30pm)
Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
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Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode
Directors: Raj & DK
Stars: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kashvi Majmundar, Kay Kay Menon
Rating: 4/5
Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
Neil Thomson – THE BIO
Family: I am happily married to my wife Liz and we have two children together.
Favourite music: Rock music. I started at a young age due to my father’s influence. He played in an Indian rock band The Flintstones who were once asked by Apple Records to fly over to England to perform there.
Favourite book: I constantly find myself reading The Bible.
Favourite film: The Greatest Showman.
Favourite holiday destination: I love visiting Melbourne as I have family there and it’s a wonderful place. New York at Christmas is also magical.
Favourite food: I went to boarding school so I like any cuisine really.
Company%20Profile
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Company profile
Company: Rent Your Wardrobe
Date started: May 2021
Founder: Mamta Arora
Based: Dubai
Sector: Clothes rental subscription
Stage: Bootstrapped, self-funded
The specs
Engine: 77.4kW all-wheel-drive dual motor
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'The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas are Setting up a Generation for Failure'
Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt, Penguin Randomhouse
Company%20profile
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
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Disclaimer
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Where to buy
Limited-edition art prints of The Sofa Series: Sultani can be acquired from Reem El Mutwalli at www.reemelmutwalli.com
Retail gloom
Online grocer Ocado revealed retail sales fell 5.7 per cen in its first quarter as customers switched back to pre-pandemic shopping patterns.
It was a tough comparison from a year earlier, when the UK was in lockdown, but on a two-year basis its retail division, a joint venture with Marks&Spencer, rose 31.7 per cent over the quarter.
The group added that a 15 per cent drop in customer basket size offset an 11.6. per cent rise in the number of customer transactions.
TUESDAY'S ORDER OF PLAY
Centre Court
Starting at 2pm:
Elina Svitolina (UKR) [3] v Jennifer Brady (USA)
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) v Belinda Bencic (SUI [4]
Not before 7pm:
Sofia Kenin (USA) [5] v Elena Rybakina (KAZ)
Maria Sakkari (GRE) v Aryna Sabalenka (BLR) [7]
Court One
Starting at midday:
Karolina Muchova (CZE) v Katerina Siniakova (CZE)
Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) v Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR)
Veronika Kudermetova (RUS) v Dayana Yastermska (UKR)
Petra Martic (CRO) [8] v Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE)
Sorana Cirstea (ROU) v Anett Kontaveit (EST)
Killing of Qassem Suleimani