State Council’s Office reviews draft laws

Muscat: The Office of the State Council reviewed the proposed amendments of the Records and Archives Law promulgated by Royal Decree 60/2007 and the draft Securities Law both of which were referred from the Council of Ministers.

After reviewing reports prepared by the specialised standing committees of the State Council, the Office decided to refer the bills to the State Council’s general meeting.

The Office was briefed on the response of the Council of Ministers regarding the State Council’s proposals for studying bank loans and insurance. It also discussed and revised the Environment Conservation and Pollution Control Law issued by Royal Decree 114/2001, and reviewed the annual report of the State Audit Institution (SAI) for 2020.

The Office of the State Council discussed a number of proposals and reports submitted by the honourable members of the State Council which included a proposal on the system for accrediting and equivalence of the academic certificates issued from outside the Sultanate of Oman. It also reviewed a follow-up report on the work of the standing committees for the period between the previous office meeting and this meeting.

At the end of the meeting, the Office set the date and agendas of the State Council’s third regular meeting.

Meanwhile, the Education and Research Committee of the State Council, hosted Talal bin Said al Mamari, CEO of Oman Telecommunications Company (Omantel), within the framework of the committee’s study on the reality and legislations of technology-based distance education.

During its fifth meeting of the third annual session held under the chairmanship of Mohammed bin Hamdan al Toobi, the Education and Research Committee of State Council, discussed with the CEO of Omantel the polices prepared by the company to realize the strategic orientation of Oman Vision 2020 regarding the establishment of smart cities in the governorates and the legislations governing them as well as the company’s plans to realize comprehensive and sustainable education.

The committee reviewed the facilities provided by Omantel to the educational institutions to achieve the requirements and challenges of distance education and the proposed solutions and legislation to achieve quality distance education in the Sultanate of Oman.