Minister of Education Approves Comprehensive Regulatory Framework for Education as Sole Reference for the Educational Process

- Twenty-two chapters governing academic stages, registration, examinations, and social and psychological services

- Cumulative high school grade average: 10% for Grade 10, 20% for Grade 11, and 70% for Grade 12

- Classification of behavioral infractions into four levels, linked to graduated corrective measures

Education Minister Eng. Sayed Jalal Al-Tabatabaee has officially approved the comprehensive regulatory bylaws for education in the Ministry of Education in their final form. Implementation of its provisions will commence from the date of the ministerial decree, establishing the unified and sole regulatory reference for all aspects of the educational process, following the completion of its preparation, review, and consultation phases with experts and professionals in the educational field.

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The issuance of the bylaws caps a comprehensive institutional effort that included reviewing existing systems, regulations, and documents; studying their practical implementation in the field; holding consultative and specialized meetings with relevant sectors and entities; and leveraging the expertise of specialists and educational practitioners. Additionally, the initial draft was presented to field professionals last June to gather feedback and suggestions via the Ministry’s website, which were then utilized to refine the bylaws’ content leading to the approval of its final version.

Minister Al-Tabatabaee stated that the issuance of the final comprehensive regulatory bylaws marks a new phase in organizing educational and pedagogical work, reflecting the Ministry’s direction toward building a clearer and more stable system based on unified rules that precisely define roles, responsibilities, rights, and duties within the school community.

He added that the bylaws represent the outcome of a collective and institutional effort involving working teams, specialized sectors, and field practitioners, through continuous technical, legal, and pedagogical reviews, consultative meetings, and specialized discussions aimed at testing proposed provisions against the actual reality of schools and the needs of their staff. He emphasized that the Ministry ensured field observations were an integral part of the bylaws’ development process.

He confirmed that the Ministry has moved from a multiplicity of documents, regulations, and instructions governing the educational process to a comprehensive and integrated regulatory reference. The new bylaws serve as the sole reference for educational institutions in organizing their operations, with previous documents and regulations replaced by it. This eliminates regulatory duplication and enhances the stability of decisions and clarity of procedures during implementation.

Minister Al-Tabatabaee pointed out that the learner is at the center of the development process targeted by the bylaws, through the improvement of assessment and evaluation systems, strengthening school discipline, organizing the educational environment, safeguarding rights and defining duties, as well as enhancing partnership between schools and families and activating pedagogical, social, and psychological roles within the school community.

He noted that the impact of clear regulatory reference extends to all parties in the school community, ensuring that learners know their rights and duties, parents understand their role, teachers are aware of their responsibilities, and administrations know their authorities and procedures. This contributes to building a more just, stable, and efficient educational environment.

He clarified that the bylaws’ preparation involved a broad review and update of existing educational systems and regulations. The effort was not limited to adding new provisions but aimed at building an integrated framework that responds to developments in education and the needs of the field.

Al-Tabataba’i commended the efforts of the working teams, relevant sectors, and field participants during the various stages of drafting and reviewing the regulation, emphasizing that consultative meetings, specialized reviews, and field observations contributed to refining many of its provisions and reaching the final version.

He stressed that the issuance of the regulation does not mark the end of the development project, but rather the beginning of the implementation, monitoring, and impact assessment phase in the field. This aims to ensure that its provisions are translated into actual practices within educational institutions, enhancing performance efficiency while strengthening discipline, responsibility, and educational quality. He affirmed that its success will be measured by the extent to which it reflects on school reality and improves the educational process.

In this context, the Ministry of Education clarified that the drafting process involved a comprehensive review and update of existing educational systems and regulations. The update rate reached 100% for the organization of the kindergarten stage, 87% for the general system regulation, 70% for the primary stage and religious education, and 65% for both the middle and secondary stages.

The ministry noted that the regulation shifts educational work from a multiplicity of documents, regulations, and directives to a single, integrated regulatory reference. Previous documents and regulations superseded by the new regulation have been abolished, making its provisions the official regulatory reference for all aspects of the educational process.

The ministry explained that the regulation comprises 22 chapters covering various components of the educational process, starting with the principles and rules governing educational work and the kindergarten stage, proceeding through the primary, middle, and secondary stages, and religious education, and extending to registration, transfers, school systems, social and psychological services, activities, school media, distance learning, the educational environment, examinations, behavior, and professional discipline.

It was further noted that the regulation provides specific regulatory provisions for each educational stage, taking into account their characteristics and nature. The kindergarten stage covers objectives, developmental characteristics, identity building, admission, transition to the primary stage, geographical scope, density, inclusion of students with disabilities, teaching staff, and schedules, in addition to assessment, absenteeism, school systems, children’s rights, the role of families, and distance learning.

Provisions for the primary, middle, and secondary stages include curricula, standards, assessment tools, grade distribution, projects, attendance, absenteeism, and examination violations, alongside general and specific provisions for religious education.

In the secondary stage, the regulation includes a comprehensive development of the assessment and grading system. A student’s grade in each semester is now distributed as 40% for classwork and continuous assessments, and 60% for the end-of-semester examination.

Classwork is divided into 25 points for student work and 15 points for short tests, while 60 points are allocated for the final examination. The 25 points designated for student work include 6 points for participation, 6 for assignments, 6 for behavior, and 7 for projects. Regulations for school projects are linked to learning outcomes, independent work, creativity, innovation, source documentation, presentation, and discussion.

Furthermore, the regulation adopts a digital points and verbal description system (GPA), which converts student grades into achievement levels and digital points. The scale begins with 4 points for an “A+” grade, corresponding to scores between 97 and 100.

Among the most prominent developments approved by the regulation is the implementation of the cumulative grade point average (GPA) for the secondary stage, whereby the tenth-grade result accounts for 10%, the eleventh-grade result for 20%, and the twelfth-grade result for 70% of the final GPA. If a student fails any grade within the secondary stage but subsequently passes it in a later year, the cumulative GPA is calculated based solely on the year of passing, without any negative impact from the previous failure.

Regarding school discipline, the regulation reorganized the system for handling student behavior within a clearer and more graduated framework. It classified behavioral violations into four levels: minor, moderate, serious, and severe, linking each level to corrective measures commensurate with the nature of the violation and the educational stage.

The new organization is based on the principles of graduated measures, justice, equality, and verification of the violation. It emphasizes viewing sanctions within an educational, preventive, evaluative, and therapeutic context, while moving away from corporal punishment and hurtful language.

Furthermore, the regulation organized the roles of the Behavioral Discipline Committee and the School System Council, as well as the mechanisms for referring cases to them. This aims to ensure the integration of roles among school administration, teaching staff, social and psychological researchers, and parents in addressing behavior and protecting the school environment.

The regulation includes a comprehensive chapter on the preventive and developmental role of social and psychological services. It organizes the operational mechanisms for social and psychological researchers, procedures for handling special cases, learning difficulties, and health conditions. Additionally, it regulates provisions on governance of administrative and educational work, as well as councils, committees, and working teams within the school community.

It also covers the organization of school media as an integral part of daily educational life, and dedicates a separate chapter to distance education, specifying its objectives, obligations, and implementation guidelines. Moreover, it establishes standards for classrooms and the educational environment, along with regulations regarding school uniforms, and the general appearance of teachers, students, and staff within educational institutions.

The Ministry stated that the regulation includes provisions for the management of examinations, control centers, appeals, and examination violations. It also encompasses a code of educational conduct, professional discipline, professional ethics, and governance in the field of education. Furthermore, it regulates violations by teaching and administrative staff, types of leave and their conditions, partial leave and absence, assignment, and permission-seeking procedures. It concludes with relevant forms, decisions, and regulations.

The Ministry of Education reiterated that the comprehensive regulatory framework represents an integrated organizational structure that unifies reference points, facilitates access to the rules governing the educational process and their implementation, and provides greater clarity regarding the rights, duties, and competencies of all parties in the school community. This supports institutional work efficiency and the stability of the educational environment, while enhancing the capacity of the educational system to keep pace with development requirements and future needs.