The division of schools within the State is built upon the basis of average student age rather than school terms in order to be bound by the Shari’ah rules related to teaching and discipline, so as to deal with students according to their age. Schools are divided according to these age groups into 3 types as shown in the following chart:

The school is not exclusively bound by school terms only; rather it extends to associate with schools of the previous and following stage in a number of terms in order to guarantee distribution of students in the 3 stages according to their age groups. The first stage school of teaching is exclusively for students less than ten years old, with the student having completed 12 school terms upon attaining ten years (4 yrs times 3 courses per year=12 courses). However, the serious student can at this stage complete 16 school terms (4 years times 4 terms per year=16 terms). Accordingly, schools of the first 2 stages overlap in teaching the required terms 13-16 to students between 9 and 12 years, for instance, term number “15” is taught in the first stage to the serious student who is not seeking a break in any term, his age will be (6+4/15= 9 ¾ years) i.e. within the first stage group. The second stage for the student who seeks the holiday, he will be (6+3/15=11 years) i.e. within the second stage age group. This overlap exists also between the second stage school and the third stage school, they overlap in teaching the term “25-32” which are mandatory for students between 13 and 17 years of age. The 28th course for example, is taught in the second stage for the serious student who does not take a break from any term; his age will be (6+4/28=13 years) i.e. within the second stage. Similarly, the 28th course is taught in the third stage school for the students who take a break between courses: his age will be (6+3/28=15 1/3 years) i.e. within the third stage age groups. This is the case for all the overlapping terms between the mentioned stages in the chart on page 74.