The Oman Chamber of Commerce & Industry (OCCI) has recommended the introduction of a comprehensive insurance policy, ‘Standard Unified Insurance Protection Policy for Private Education’, to offer privately-run schools, nurseries and related facilities coverage, including consequential losses and business disruption stemming from insured Nat CAT and negligent human actions, including risks posed by pandemics such as COVID-19.
The initiative, coming against the backdrop of coronavirus which forced the suspension of schools and educational institutions across Oman, has beneficial ramifications for the entire sector, and the underlying national economy as a whole.
The proposed policy will cover not only the property and assets of the promoters and investors, but also the teachers and employees, among other liabilities, according to OCCI’s Finance and Insurance Committee chairman Murtadha bin Mohammed Jawad Ibrahim Al Jamalani. In the event of a major disruption, teachers and staff will continue to receive their wages, while the socioeconomic burden of caring for nationals will not fall automatically on the government.
“This is a comprehensive insurance product, which is primarily targeted at schools and nurseries in the private sector in Phase 1 of its roll-out,” said Mr Al Jamalani. “In the second phase, we propose to extend coverage to private colleges and universities, and potentially to include government educational institutions as well.”
He said an initial draft concept of the policy was discussed and approved by a special semi-technical committee consisting of members from the OCCI and the Oman Insurance Association during a meeting recently to review a number of insurance-related issues.
“We are awaiting some key inputs from the education committee of the chamber, as well as from the Ministry of Education, before we present the proposal to the ministry itself for their consideration. We will request the ministry to include the insurance product in their prescribed guidelines and criteria when considering licensing applications for establishing and operating new schools and nurseries in the private sector. Existing institutions will be covered as well as when their licences are due for renewal,” said Mr Al Jamalani. M