Improving Child rights in the Gulf: Expectations from the brand-new child law of Oman

Children and Youth Services Review 50 (2015) 12–19

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Improving Child rights in the Gulf: Expectations from the brand-new child law of Oman Ali Kemal Tekin ⁎ Department of Early Childhood Education, College of Education, Sultan Qaboos University, Al-Khod, PC 123, PO Box 32 Muscat, Oman

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Article history: Received 8 December 2014 Received in revised form 6 January 2015 Accepted 12 January 2015 Available online 17 January 2015 Keywords: Child rights Child law Omani early childhood pre-service teachers Early childhood education Young children Child rights in Islam

a b s t r a c t Located in the Arabian Peninsula, Oman has a unique place in the improvement of its citizens' life standards, including the recent child law projected by its Renaissance movement. The new law was issued on May 19, 2014—however, no reactions on expectations have been documented. In Oman, the main source for early childhood teachers is the Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) and graduates from the Early Childhood Education Department (ECED) are also expected to act as advocates for child rights in all sectors of the society. In light of these groups' prominence in advocacy efforts, it is important to understand their perspectives on changes in the law that could affect a child's life. This research study aimed to gain a better understanding of early childhood pre-service teachers' expectations of Oman's new child law. In addition, a detailed background on child rights and the new child law is offered here. The selective sampling method was deployed in this study—participants were 25 SQU students from ECED. Qualitative research methods were used. Findings showed that expectations of the new child law are abundant, yet a few concerns remain. Findings are discussed and recommendations for policy makers are made. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction and background 1.1. Introduction The Sultanate of Oman is an Arab-Muslim country situated in the southeastern part of the Arabian Peninsula and neighboring Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates on the north, Yemen on the west, the Arabian Sea on the south, and the Gulf of Oman on the East with a population of 3,992,7092,260,552 of whom are Omani and 1,732,157 are expatriates (National Center for Statistics & Information, 2014). The Sultanate's major national income is derived from two underground resources: oil and natural gas. According to the U. S. Central Intelligence Agency (2014), 50.3% of the country's population is below the age of 24 and the median age is 24.9. Meanwhile, 30.4% of Oman's population is at the age of 14 or less. These quick statistical facts stimulate the image of the country as a young populated country. Once His Majesty, Sultan Qaboos bin Said, came into power in 1970, he took several initiatives and set off the Renaissance that has led to great efforts to improve the different aspects of life standards in the country. For example, before 1970, only three formal schools existed in the entire country and only male students were admitted to them; today, 1052 public schools enroll 563,236 students of both genders (Oman Cultural Office, n.d.). Similar efforts have taken place in the field of child rights. For example, Oman ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) on December 9, 1996 by Royal Decree No. 54/1996 (UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, 2000), which was considered ⁎ Tel.:+968 93284364. E-mail addresses: [email protected], [email protected].

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2015.01.008 0190-7409/© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

a milestone for children's rights in the country. However, the Omani government refused to enact provisions that would contradict with Islamic Law, as did other Gulf countries such as the United Arab Emirates (UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, 2001). For instance, Article 21 on adoption issues has not been ratified by the government since its provisions challenge the principles of Islamic Law. Likewise, there have been some critiques regarding the implementation of a few other aspects of the Convention such as Article 12, which targets the child's right to expression. In this regard, the following two provisions should receive attention. The first emphasizes the importance of family and its members, including the child, and states quite plainly the state's responsibility for protecting and improving children's interests and welfare. The first article related to child rights in the Basic Statute of the Sultanate of Oman (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2013) is as follows: Article 12 — social principles The family is the basis of society, and the law regulates the means of protecting it, safeguarding its legal structure, reinforcing its ties and values, providing care for its members, and creating suitable conditions for the development of their aptitudes and capabilities. On the other hand, the second article emphasizes the right of expression in Oman and guarantees it within the limits of law, including the expression rights of children. Article 29 — Expression Freedom of opinion and expression, whether spoken, written or in other forms, is guaranteed within the limits of the law.

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Although the ratification of the UNCRC by the Sultanate was welcomed, the main critique was about Oman's lack of specific legislation in implementing its provisions (UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, 2006), in turn limiting the full application of child rights. Amidst the debate on how child rights could be advocated, improved, and implemented, the Sultanate of Oman took another important step by introducing a brand new child law by Royal Decree No. 22/2014 on May 19, 2014 (Ministry of Legal Affairs, 2014). This action served to promote child rights in the country. It also placed the Sultanate well ahead of even its Western counterparts on child rights advocacy. However, while welcomed by many, discussions about expectations for this law in Oman do not go beyond speculation. Thus, a study is needed of expectations of this new child law. More to the point, since early childhood teachers are expected to act as advocates for child rights in the society, it is important to understand their perspectives on any initiative with a direct or indirect impact on a child's immediate life. In Oman, the main source of early childhood teachers is the Early Childhood Education Department (ECED) at Sultan Qaboos University (SQU). This department's graduates are also expected to be active agents in promoting child rights and awareness at all levels and platforms in the Omani society. Therefore, an understanding of this group's expectations is important, too. Thus, this study sought insights into pre-service early childhood teachers' expectations of Oman's new child law. In order to fully understand the phenomenon and go further with the study, a look at child rights, including its definition, types, and historical development, is needed and offered in the following section. 1.2. Background on child rights: definition, types, and historical development Generally, children's rights are defined simply as human rights adapted to children's conditions with particular attention to their vulnerability, specificities, and age-appropriate needs (UNICEF, 2014a). Accordingly, child rights has two components—the first involves general human rights as adults such as the right to non-discrimination (Webb, 2011), expression (Langlaude, 2010), civil (Humphries et al., 2014), health (Waterson & Yilmaz, 2013), educational (Clair, Miske, & Patel, 2012), social (Warner & Prentice, 2013), cultural (Fronczek, 2009), and economic rights (Nolan, 2013); and the second component includes special rights to protect them (Fisher & Shang, 2014), including from violence (Kamil, 2014) and exploitation (Appleton, 2014) during their childhood while taking their evolving capacities (Lansdown, 2005), capabilities (Bonvin & Stoecklin, 2014) and special needs (Mepham, 2010) into consideration. The need to focus on children's rights in a specific manner stems from the understanding that children are dependent individuals, not the possessions of parents or the state who are more open to the impact of governmental actions, whose views are rarely heard, and who are affected most negatively or disproportionately by societal changes (Humanium, 2011). Moreover, the future well-being of a society relies of its children's healthy development (UNICEF, 2014b). In earlier times, children did not receive official special protection. For example, Plato violated children's rights in advocating public ownership of women and children in the society (Archard, 2004). In the Middle Ages children were considered to be small adults. This was the case until the 18th century when the French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau stated in his prominent work Emile that there is a unique value in childhood and he believed that children had the right to be cared for and educated according to human nature without being harmed. They should enjoy sunlight, exercise, and play and have the right to make their own decisions (Rousseau, 1762a). He opened the path for the issue of child rights (Koshimizu, 2001). In 1780, the French Declaration of the Rights of Man was a historic blow to human rights in general; however, children were not an issue of concern (Khalil, 2002). In 1841, French law began to give children special protection in the labor field (Humanium, 2011) in order to prevent the adverse effects of the Industrial Revolution and workforce shortages on children. On the

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other hand, efforts to promote children's rights at the international level started in the beginning of the 20th century (Alston, Tobin, & Darrow, 2005). For example, the International Labor Organization (ILO) adopted many international standards in 1919 and focused directly on children and attributed them specific rights such as working hours and minimum age (Khalil, 2002). In addition, prior to the founding of the United Nations, the League of Nations (1919) inserted protective rights provisions against children's exploitative labor and slavery to its covenant. Afterwards, the Geneva Declaration was ratified by the fifth general assembly of the International Save the Child Union on February 28, 1924 (Alston et al., 2005). The declaration consisted of five points relating to children's physical, civil, mental, protection, and survival rights (League of Nations, 1924) that were considered to be passive rights (Khalil, 2002). The League of Nations adapted the Declaration of Geneva on September 26, 1924. Ten years later, the General Assembly of the League of Nations adopted this declaration once again (Khalil, 2002). In 1945, the United Nations was established, yet its focus was the basic human rights rather than specific child rights in its first years (Alston et al., 2005), thus, adapted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on December 10, 1948 (UN General Assembly, 1948). Five years later, in 1953, UNICEF was established and studies on child rights accelerated, resulting in the adoption of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child by the UN General Assembly (1959). The declaration was based on two groups of rights: protection of the child's physical integrity and living standards; and second, involvement in the child's mental and moral developments (Khalil, 2002). Thirty years after this occasion, the UN General assembly unanimously adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child on November 20, 1989 (UN General Assembly, 1989) which became an international treaty. As of 2014, the number of state parties involved in this treaty has a total of 194 and signatory states has a total of 140. The convention has the highest number of signatory states among human rights treaties (Khalil, 2002). In addition, two optional protocols have been adopted by the UN General Assembly, since then: (1) the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (UN General Assembly, 2000) and (2) the Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution, and Child Pornography (UN General Assembly, 2001). The articles in the UNCRC consist of 54 articles in total, of which 41 target child rights, including the themes of survival rights, development rights, protection rights, and participation rights (Children's Rights Alliance, n.d.), defined as follows: “The Convention on the Rights of the Child is an international treaty that recognizes the human rights of children, defined as persons up to the age of 18 years. The Convention establishes in international law that States Parties must ensure that all children—without discrimination in any form—benefit from special protection measures and assistance; have access to services such as education and health care; can develop their personalities, abilities and talents to the fullest potential; grow up in an environment of happiness, love and understanding; and are informed about and participate in, achieving their rights in an accessible and active manner.” (UNICEF, 2005) Although the UNCRC has been ratified by many countries, it is important to understand the contextual variables while investigating any topic related to any phenomenon such as child rights as these variables might have influence on the meaning of concepts and implementation of the laws related to these concepts (Tekin & Tekin, 2007). The present study was conducted in Oman where the religion plays a dominant role in forming any social constructs. Therefore, it is essential to enlighten child rights in Islam and Omani context. 2. Context 2.1. Child rights in Islam and Omani context The basic notions and understanding of child rights have been widely accepted by communities from all continents and regions of the

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world. However, all social concepts and phenomena are contextually bound and thus might have different meanings in different contexts and are affected and formed by the sociocultural characteristics of a particular society (Tekin, 2011a; Tekin & Tekin, 2007). This rule also applies to the concept of child rights, which can be considered a dynamic concept in the macrosystem of Bronfenbrenner's ecosystemic theory (Bronfenbrenner, 1979) with an evolving meaning like that of other social ingredients in a chronosystem over time (Tekin, 2011b). The Sultanate of Oman is a Muslim-Arab country most identified with its strong commitment to Islamic principles; religion is one of the strongest factors shaping almost all aspects of Omanis' life. From Said's orientalist perspective, the West holds inaccurate cultural representations of the East in general, and in Islamic societies in particular (Said, 1978). This includes representations of familial dynamics, relations, and rights. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the concept of child rights within this context to get a better and more real picture. The child has a unique meaning and place in the Islamic context. According to Aludain (2000), Islam's views of human rights are demonstrated in its principles, such as prohibitions against the oppression of women, children, and elders, and any kind of physical abuse and insult, and exploitation; and embracing the honor and dignity of all humans. The rights specific to children's conditions are considered divine (Abdulrazzak, 2014) and safeguarded in Islam. For example, unborn children have family rights; from infancy, children have the right to be properly raised and educated; receive appropriate religious, ethical, and moral guidance; lineage; financial, physical, and socioemotional protection; and just and equal treatment, in addition to security, and socialization in Islam (Arfat, 2013). However, children's rights in Islam are not limited to these issues—thus, the interplay between Islamic principles affecting child rights and universal norms can benefit from more dialogue among Islamic thinkers, researchers, and policy makers, and their Western counterparts and others at international organizations (Volkmann, 2012). In this regard, the Sultanate of Oman has been making continuous efforts and working with UN institutions through official meetings and discussions. The importance of child rights in the Islamic world has been receiving increasing attention, especially after the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam which was ratified in 1990 by the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and included several articles such as Article 7 on child rights, which includes the right to proper nursing, education and material, hygienic and moral care (OIC, 1990). International organizations focusing on this issue are not limited to the UN and its institutions. The OIC, in which 56 Islamic states are members, adopted the Covenant of Child Rights in Islam (CCRI) in June 2005 (OIC, 2005). The covenant is a legally binding document considered as a huge step in improving the standards of children's lives (Abiad & Mansoor, 2010) by ensuring their rights in member Islamic states, including: equality, right to life, identity, family cohesion, personal freedoms, freedom of assembly, upbringing, education and culture, rest and activity times, social living standard, health, disabled children and children with special needs, child protection, child labor, justice, parental responsibility, protection from detrimental practices, and child refugees (OIC, 2005). The Sultanate of Oman was a signatory of the CCRI as a member state. Prior to ratification of the CCRI, the Sultanate of Oman ratified the UNCRC in 1996 and both optional protocols in 2004 (UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, 2009). However, the lack of specific legislation in implementing the UNCRC in the country led to applicationrelated difficulties and the need for recommendations (UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, 2006). As stated by Westra (2014), the genuine exercise of child rights is possible as long as there is a child law protecting and ensuring these rights. The first child law was drafted by the United Arab Emirates on January 24, 2014 (Salem, 2014). Thus, simultaneously, the Sultanate as its neighbor and co-member of the Gulf Cooperation Society (GCC) initiated a study to draft specific legislation to deal with child right issues. Hence, the new child law was drafted

and put in effect on May 19, 2014. However, the original text of the child law is available only in Arabic (Ministry of Legal Affairs, 2014), therefore, it is essential to provide highlights of the Omani Child Law. 2.2. Highlights of the Omani Child Law 2.2.1. Definitions First, definitions of basic important concepts are made available in Article 1 to prevent confusion in both comprehending and implementing the new law. For example, the definition of child is provided in the new law to avoid confusion since the concept of child in many Islamic countries and societies may refer to a person who has not reached maturity (OIC, 2005). However, the definition in the new child law aligns with that in the UNCRC, where a child is: “a person who has not completed the 18 years of age”. Thus, the definition also is clarified in the law. Also, disabled child is defined as “a child who suffers from a limited sensory, physical, or mental abilities caused by congenital or hereditary factors or as a result of illness or accident, or limit his/her ability to perform his/her role in normal life and participate fully and effectively in society at an equal level with others”; violence is defined as “intentional use of force or physical ability of an individual or a group against a child, or threatening to use, which would be inflicting actual or potential harm to him”; exploitation is defined as “taking advantage of the child in non-legitimate ways such as prostitution and other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor, slavery, and servitude, and practices similar to forced labor, slavery, and servitude”; and abuse refers to: “maltreatment of the child physically or psychologically or sexually, or neglecting of a child in a manner that would lead the creation of such conditions impeding his physical, psychological, or social development”. 2.2.2. Non-discrimination, expression, and evolving capacities The second article guarantees the child's rights, including the following: the right to life, survival, and growth; right to be protected from discrimination because of race, color, sex, origin, language, religion, social position, or other reasons; right in settling the best priority in all decisions and actions taken thereon, either by units of the state administrative apparatus, or judicial entities, or institutions in charge of their care; and right to participate in, and express an opinion, and expression and the opportunity for his full disclosure of his opinions in the framework consistent with the laws and public order, public morals, and national security. Another important development in the new law is the emphasis in Article 3 on the “evolving capacity” of the child which distinguishes it from many other legal, social, and educational initiatives that ignore this aspect of child rights (Lansdown, 2005). Thus it guarantees protection, guidance, and exercise of the child's rights stipulated in this law in ways consistent with the evolving capacities of the child and in the context of religious beliefs and customs of the social mainstream. 2.2.3. Civil and health rights Article 5 of the present law states that it is the obligation of the state to ensure the economic, social, and cultural rights of children within the limits of available resources. In line with that notion, it is asserted in Articles 6 through 10 that the state shall guarantee the child's enjoyment of civil rights by all means available to the child: the right to life, the right to protection from violence and exploitation, and must be registered in the records of birth, right to have nationality, and to ensure his state enjoyment of this right, and the right to be attributed to his parents, and enjoy being cared for, right to express his opinion verbally, in writing or in print, through art or any other media, and the right to knowledge and the use of innovation and creativity. With regard to the health rights of children, it is stated in Articles 14 through 24 that a child's right to health care is absolute and the state is responsible to provide health services to them, including treatment, therapeutic, preventive measures, remedial care, and state-sponsored medical maternal care before and after birth, and to prohibit the advertisements and promotion of fast food and other hazardous nutrition to the child's health.

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2.2.4. Social, educational, cultural, and economic rights The new child law assures children's social rights, including the child's right to education, survival, and growth in the context of freedom and human dignity, right to social security, through Articles 25 to 35. In Articles 36 through 38, educational rights are covered and the child's right to access free education in public schools until the completion stage of secondary education is guaranteed. Basic education, which takes ten years in Oman, is also compulsory. Cultural rights are also included in Articles 39 through 42—the state shall meet by all means available each child's cultural needs and establish libraries and private clubs for children in all governorates of the Sultanate, and determine what to present to children in cinemas and public places. The new child law also covers the economic rights of the child in Articles 43 through 50, including the child's right to manage his money and funds, and prohibits the economic exploitation of the child via begging. It also prohibits the use of children in business or industries likely to damage their health, safety, or ethical behavior. The new law also sets age 15 as the minimum age to work. However, child labor is allowed before this age in agricultural business, fishing, industrial business, craft, and administrative, provided that the work is limited to family members and will not impede the child's education or damage his health and development under the other conditions set by the present law (i.e., working hours). 2.2.5. Disabled children's rights and protection from violence and exploitation The new child law also contains provisions on rights specific to disabilities experienced by the child (Articles 51 to 53), stating that disabled children are entitled to all rights declared in this law without discrimination. The state guarantees the welfare and rehabilitation of disabled children, according to provisions of the Law for the Welfare and Rehabilitation of the Disabled (Royal Decree No. 63/2008), and conducts disability-related research in order to aid planning, raise awareness, and reduce disabilities. The present law also contains provisions in Articles 54 through 65 on children's right to be protected from violence and exploitation. It most notably prohibits the recruitment of children in the armed forces and groups and also prohibits acts including abduction, rape, inducement or coercion to engage in sexual activity or anything related to prostitution or use in the slave trade in all its forms. It also prohibits the granting of a license to a child to drive any motor vehicle, and prohibits the sale of alcohol, tobacco and other hazardous substance to a child. The Ministry of Social Development is the responsible governmental body for establishing committees on the protection of children from violence, and exploitation, and abuse, called “child protection committees”. Law officers are responsible in applying the provisions of this law. The specialized child protection committee receives complaints and reports of any violations of the rights of the child. Each person has the right to report any incident that constitutes violence against the child or exploitation or abuse, or violation of his rights. The penalties are also covered in Articles 66 through 76. The present child law was greeted with excitement by those interested in child rights, including academics, social and educational practitioners, families, and policy makers. Each specific piece of legislation is regarded as a socially agreed norm in a given society, as stated by Rousseau in his Social Contract (1762b); therefore, the relationship between the concerned people and the law itself should be a matter of inquiry. This relationship includes the reactions of certain groups to an existing or newly introduced piece of legislation. The teachers, especially from the field of early childhood, are expected to become advocates for and representatives of children's rights in the country. However, no inquiry has been made about their or any other concerned group's reactions to the new child law beyond informal discussions and speculations. Therefore, a historical and contextual look at child rights in relation to the Omani Child Law is essential in order to investigate specific concerned group's reactions to and expectations of it. The present study investigated the expectations of early childhood pre-service teachers for Oman's new Child Law.

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3. Research methodology Since the aim of this inquiry was to gain an understanding of participants' expectations, qualitative methods were deployed as suggested by Creswell (2012) in the interest of conducting a robust and in-depth study. Qualitative methods that include surveying the target group and asking for in-depth responses to a certain social issue are expected to gather the types of information needed to ensure a detailed description of their expectations for the new Omani Child Law. 3.1. Participants The only institution offering an early childhood teacher education program in Oman is the Department of Early Childhood Education in the College of Education at SQU. Therefore, the study population was early childhood pre-service teachers enrolled in that program. Moreover, this research targeted a particular group of people as participants. Thus, the selective sampling method was used to recruit participants as recommended by Coyne (1997). A total of 90 pre-service teachers were enrolled in the program full-time, 64 of whom were registered in ECED (the rest were in the foundation year). The foundation year students were excluded since their program in the preparatory year was based exclusively on language learning. Thus, they were probably not yet knowledgeable about child rights issues since they had not yet had ECED courses. The contact information for potential participants was obtained from the Center of Information Systems; they were contacted by email and in person. A total of 64 candidates were contacted by both email and face-to-face and invited to participate in the study. Only 25 (39%) students responded positively; the rest 41 (61%) declined. (Participation was on a voluntary basis.) All of the participants were female since the SQU admits only female candidates to the Early Childhood Education Department. The average age of participants was calculated to be 21.2. 3.2. Data collection The participants were native Arabic speakers and thus received the Arabic version of the new child law (the only one available). They were asked one overarching question: “What are your expectations from the new child law of Oman as an early childhood pre-service teacher and a potential child rights advocate?” The participants were given two weeks to respond to this major question. A reminder was sent one week after the onset of the self-report procedure. The selfreports were collected through electronic mail. The participants were contacted again to clarify responses and ensure that they had been understood correctly to secure triangulation for validity (Creswell, 2012). Thus, the participants' self-reports in response to the research question were kept confidential and on a password-protected-computer. 3.3. Data analysis In this study, the data source was the self-reports of the focus group participants. Since the responses were in a qualitative and narrative form, it was essential to use qualitative method techniques to analyze the data. Therefore, as suggested by Guest, MacQueen and Namey (2012), thematic analysis phases including data reduction and categorizing procedures were followed to anchor expectations and analyze the data according to the major themes of the child law as highlighted here. While producing the report, it is important to extract descriptions from participants (Creswell, 2012) since this heuristic process of qualitative analysis enables understanding of the findings in a more systemic and organized way as Moustakas (1994) stressed. A qualitative data analysis software package was used in this process. In addition, the recursive examination of data took place via a peer-review method deployed for verification purposes as suggested by Cohen and Crabtree (2008).

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4. Findings Findings revealed that the early childhood pre-service teachers' expectations for the new child law fell into different categories. These thematic categories mostly overlapped with child rights domains cited in the child law as highlighted here. The expectations are listed below. 4.1. Nondiscrimination, expression, and evolving capacities

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With regard to this theme, the most common response related to their expectations for the nondiscrimination aspect of the law. For example, a participant said: “I expect the development of the child's respect for his family and cultural identity, language, religious, national, and upbringing of the child belonging to his homeland and to meet him and the brotherhood and tolerance among human beings, and to respect others and instilling the values of equality between individuals and non-discrimination on grounds of religion, belief systems, language, dialects, gender, race, color, or social status and origin, disability, or any reason of the grounds of discrimination”.

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The findings revealed other expectations with respect to this theme: – All children will have the same rights and opportunities to access services, and be respected, treated, and tolerated equally and justly regardless of their differences. – Omani children will have the right to expression, participation, communication, and freedom of choice by any means without any constraints as long as it is consistent with morality, religious values, and national security. This will help children to exercise and improve talents and abilities and be more confident, innovative and creative. – Children's evolving capacities and capabilities in various stages of development will be considered by institutions that will help children to achieve personality, talents, mental, physical, social, and emotional abilities to their fullest potential, and enhance the sense of its value in participating in educational systems, political organizations, religious communities, or other associations, take responsibility, and make decisions, not by force but enjoyment. This will be supported by the appropriate environment.

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obstacle to access of any services. Children born out of wedlock and abandoned will also be entitled to a nationality that will support them in their life under the protection of the government. Since the new Omani law does not cover adoption practices in the West as Islamic doctrines suggest, children's civil rights, including genealogical rights to their parents, will be protected; this will help their physical, social, cognitive, and emotional development. Children and their mothers, before and after birth, will enjoy access to the highest attainable standard of free and preventive health care immunization, vaccinations, periodic visitations and examinations, in order to reduce infectious, genetic, and chronic diseases, the rate of disabled children, and infant mortality. New hospitals and health institutions with the newest technology and quality staff will be established across the country, including remote areas. Maternal rights such as maternal leave, support of early care for mothers, medical examinations specific to mothers, and training in programs such as how to breastfeed will be improved and exercised. A doctor will be appointed to follow up on the child's health. The parents will be more aware of their children's health and will have the right to be informed about the health situation of their and to choose a doctor in the health care system. Early childhood practitioners such as preschool teachers will be more knowledgeable about the child's health-related well-being (e.g., first aid). Children will not suffer from any type of traditional medical treatment as practicing such treatment is prohibited, and the ones who conduct such maltreatment will face legal consequences. Healthier and safer environments will be provided for children. Families and their children living in industrial areas who are affected by detrimental conditions such as pollution will have the right to transfer to a healthier and safer environment; this process will be organized by the government. The nutrition standards for children will be regulated and supervised by the government, including the food available and targeted marketing. For example, the use of any preservatives in a child's food that might damage the child's health will not be allowed. Parents' awareness of child nutrition will also increase. Imported materials targeting children, such as toys, will be inspected according to health standards in order to prevent diseases resulting from bad products.

4.2. Civil and health rights

4.3. Social, educational, cultural, and economic rights

The participants clearly reported their expectations for civil and health rights. However, focus of most respondents was health rights. For instance, a participant stated:

The most commonly reported expectation of participants related to this overarching theme of children's educational rights. Most respondents mentioned their expectations for the educational domain in light of the new child law. For example, a participant said:

“I am optimistic about the law regarding health care and protection diseases for child, because in our society endogamy is a common practice and that cause lots of diseases like anemia or genetic disorders, such diseases will be prevented by early screening before marriage introduced in this law. In addition, this law will realize the social importance of medical care and doing vaccines that protect children from diseases. Moreover, I expect a dramatic change with regards to the awareness of caregivers about the healthy nutrition that should be provided for children. Also, there will be intense supervision by the government in the market that will reduce the availability of unhealthy food resulting in a decrease of the large number of malnourished Omani children”. The other representative statements made by participants within this theme are listed below: – Children's civil rights such as the right to have a name, identity, and nationality will be maintained, and all children will be attributed to their parents; thus, no child will remain unrecognized. – The civil rights of children will also help the child to enjoy and practice other domains of rights since it will help them to not face any

“I expect there will be more attention to the quality of education provided to all children in Oman. Certain aspects of children's education will improve including the learning environment, the quality of materials and equipment, playgrounds, class size, safety of educational setting, quality of teachers and staff, training programs for educators, sound educational curriculum and programs as well as alternative care programs that focus on the whole child and contribute to all of developmental areas such as cognitive, physical, emotional, moral, social and linguistic development that meet the national and international standards and expectations of all stakeholders, parental rights and parent involvement, quality of assessment and evaluations of the programs. All these services will help children to build the future”. Other responses reported by participants were relevant to this theme: – There will be more effective, professional and constructive supervision of educational institutions and programs for children in line with higher-quality teacher training programs.

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– There will be a greater focus on free early childhood education. The awareness of the importance of early childhood programs will increase and the government will make early childhood education mandatory; consequently, this stage will be a part of the formal educational system. – All Omani children's social rights, including right to life, survival, development, participation, and involvement in social groups and activities, and benefits from all means of communications, will be secured and improved to ensure human dignity, showing the child the real wealth of society. – Children will have access to recreational areas such as parks and sports fields to help their growth and socialization through interactions with peers. – Children will have a decent life and cohesive family. Those deprived of parents, such as orphans, will be cared for and supported by social institutions. – Since Article 14 of the UNCRC is not adopted by this law, a child born of a Muslim father will still be considered a Muslim in accordance with Islamic doctrines and Omani traditions in order to conserve the texture of society. – Also, children's cultural needs will be met by providing special institutions and services such as libraries, clubs and cinemas, and national and international competitions in cultural, artistic, innovation, technical, and scientific domains. The products targeting children's cultural and recreational needs, such as media and video games, will be monitored according to their age and cultural appropriateness to avoid any negative impact on the child's development and preserve religious customs and moral ethics. – This law guarantees the economic rights of all Omani children and reduces child labor and poverty. For example, it will not be possible to force children to work if doing so will harm their development and interfere with their schooling. Children are only allowed to work at fishing and farming to help their families—these activities will be regulated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. Poor children will be supported with state funding and the same services will be provided to them as to other children, such as access to educational and social services. 4.4. Disabled children's rights and protection from violence and exploitation Participants showed significant interest in this theme. Findings emphasized expectations for the rights of the disabled more than other aspects of this theme. For instance, a respondent stated: “I expect the Sultanate of Oman will be caring more about children with disabilities, in other word, children with special needs, and other disadvantaged children such as orphans by providing more and better services by specialized staff such as improved special education programs, contemporary applications of inclusive education, early intervention centers, assistance to the families inside and outside Oman, modern rehabilitation centers for juveniles, allowing them to better integrate with the community and have a better future. This will also increase the awareness in the Omani society.” Moreover, other expectations were noted relating to this theme. These included: – Omani children will be protected from violence, exploitation, and abuse, treated humanely in order to maintain their dignity, reputation, and honor; the state will ensure this by all means available. The physical, verbal, emotional and sexual abuse of children will be a crime; those who engage in this abuse will face stiff penalties. Hence, Omani children will feel more secure, increasing their selfconfidence and independence. – Awareness of violence against children and exploitation will increase via social programs designed to protect children from all

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types of illegal practices. Engagement in these programs will serve to decrease children's social problems and crimes. In addition, each case will be followed by the government's special committees established to work on behalf of abused and neglected children. Furthermore, the teachers and doctors dealing with children will report any violence or abuse to the responsible committees. – Children's immediate environment (e.g., school, home) will be improved in order to protect them from harm and danger. Families and child care practitioners will share these responsibilities. – The exploitation of children will end—their engagement in hazardous work and/or work under hazardous conditions is no longer allowed (e.g., begging, trafficking, etc.). 4.5. Other expectations Study findings revealed other expectations that fell outside the major themes previously analyzed. These included concerns about the implementation of the new law. For example, a participant claimed that: “Unfortunately, this law does not mention about the importance of researches and studies related to childhood which is frustrating. In Oman we do not even have real statistics about the situation of children in the country, which could be solved by serious studies. These researches and studies could help the country to know what is going on with children around the country, so it would help to overcome the problems which might happen for children because everything could be reported”. More to the point, another participant claimed that not all children would benefit from these rights because not all children are reachable due to geographic distances. On the other hand, more other positive expectations were reported, such as the following: – Since this law will increase awareness of the importance of childhood as a critical stage and the value of children within society and the family, it will empower children in the community. This will in turn help to build a stronger society in the future. – The law's provisions will secure children's lives by guaranteeing a benevolent future life. The law also not only focuses on one aspect of human needs that must be taken care of by society, but rather includes all needs incorporated within Maslow's Pyramid. – In addition, this law makes economic contributions to the country in the short and long term by promising better standards and rights for individuals, enabling them to become more independent, creative, and innovative, and hence function more productively. – This law will help Oman to increase its international reputation and become a model in the Gulf region. 5. Discussion 5.1. Implications Study findings indicated that early childhood pre-service teachers' expectations of the new Omani child law are abundant. They pointed to the possibility of dramatic changes not only in children's lives but also in Omani society, from freedom of expression to cultural improvement, from facilities and services provided to disadvantaged groups to economic conditions of all children, regardless of their background. Expectations took two forms: direct impacts of the new law on children's lives such as improved educational, civil, and health rights, and indirect impacts on the lives of children and other individuals in the society, such as the expected increase in awareness of children's nutrition or improvement in early childhood education. In addition to positive expectations, a few concerns were raised regarding the new law. For example, some participants expected challenges in applying the law to

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children living in remote areas of the country. In addition, the new law received a few critiques, including a lack of encouragement of potential research on early childhood in general even though it is expected to support research on special education. On the other hand, the consistency between the law and Islamic doctrines and traditions and customs is welcomed. Hence, one purpose of the present study was to provide recommendations for decision makers. The major suggestions are as follows: – The committee set up by the law that is responsible to follow up on child rights issues should ensure that the law is applied in all areas relating to all children in Oman. – The government should launch an awareness campaign on the brand new child law for all stakeholders, including parents, teachers and other practitioners dealing with children, administrators, lawyers, health professionals, and other interested people. This action will increase knowledge on the new law and in turn ensure its effective implementation. – The efficient training of government and private-sector employees should be a priority. Children's lives can be improved only if professional and well-trained staff are dealing with them in all aspects of their lives, including social, educational, and health services. – The early childhood education sector should be improved, more educational settings and institutions should be established, and teachers who are seen as advocates of child rights in the country should be empowered through training, granting them more space to act on behalf of children, and recognizing them as active agents in society to protect children's rights. – The law is viewed as a huge step toward improving children's rights. However, some aspects of children's rights are not covered by the current law. For example, the child's right to be heard has been left out—this should be handled in an amendment on children's rights to be heard, especially during legal proceedings. – Parental involvement in young children's life should be encouraged and respected and should be mandatory for all institutions, including schools and hospitals, in recognition of parental rights and responsibilities. – All sectors dealing with children should view the child as a whole child and act in accordance with that notion. The child's evolving capacity and capabilities should be considered, such as when developing educational, social, cultural, and health care programs. The child's right to play and learn through play should be appreciated, encouraged, and implemented.

5.2. Limitations of the study and recommendations for further research This study had several limitations. First, participants were early childhood pre-service teachers only. Therefore, further research should be conducted with other concerned groups such as parents, policy makers, social service staff, and health professionals. Second, the method deployed in the study was qualitative. Thus, there should be more research using quantitative methods. Third, parallel research should be conducted in similar contexts of other Gulf states. Finally, research should occur after the new law has been in place for some time to see its impacts on each domain of child rights. 5.3. Conclusion The Omani government has engaged in an exciting initiative, becoming a pioneer in the region by introducing a modern child law. Although there are a few concerns, the expectations are predominantly positive— the law is expected to improve almost all aspects of children's lives. These initiatives contribute to a country's and region's overall development; therefore, more steps should be encouraged in this direction.

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