supreme education council

The move comes as part of the education minister's "discipline before education" initiative, in which the goal is to get parents to help improve attendance rates in Independent schools.

The opening of nine new private schools and six kindergartens is hoped to alleviate some of the stress on Qatar's overburdened education system, which has been struggling to accommodate the growing needs of the population.

Amid a school place shortage, some 22 more schools are supposed to open between October 2014 and May 2015, and several more kindergartens are expected to become operational by December, the SEC has pledged.

The restriction means that no children, whether currently in Qatar or abroad, are currently allowed to take up places in a new school partway through the school year, unless they are granted an exception by the SEC.

In an effort to create a "scientific and transparent" system, Qatar's governing education body will judge a school's petition to raise tuition by five new criteria.