EDUCATION

The government has a strong desire to see Omani nationals playing a leading role in all areas of employment – both trades and professions - in the Sultanate. In order to achieve this aim, education and training are designated areas of priority and have been a cornerstone of each of the Sultanate’s Five year Development Plans. The Ministry of Education’s commitment to a sector that - while maintaining traditional values - is modern and advanced is reflected in its range of educational programmes, including the Basic Education System, designed to meet the demands of modern science and culture in the information age.

In the 2007-2008 school year the Ministry of Education began introducing programmes scheduled for implementation during the current Seventh Five-year Plan (2006-2010). Under these directives the Basic Education System will be expanded, while post-Basic education for the 11th and 12th grades will be upgraded to encourage the continuing development of skills, enabling young people to  benefit from educational, training, and work opportunities schemes, after they have left full time education.

The Ministry of Education’s National Programme sets out to upgrade the education system as a whole. In the first instance the scheme will focus on mathematics, the sciences and environmental geography, in line with present- day international educational trends. In devising the programme, the education ministry received significant input from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), the Teacher Education and Development Study – Mathematics (TEDS-M), the Progress in International Reading and Literacy Study (PIRLS), the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and a number of other international studies. A new type of exam will be introduced which will include testing on specific areas of knowledge as well as an assessment of the individual’s ability to apply reason and initiative to general problem solving.

The educational portal

The Ministry of Education took an important step when it opened an educational portal on the internet as part of the Sultanate’s move towards a fully fledgede-government system. The portal provides easy access and communication links between users. It enables information to be transferred efficiently between the Ministry of Education and other government ministries and departments and offers employees additional opportunities for using and developing their skills and creative potential in the workplace.

Oman’s educational portal was the winner of the 2007 Oman Web Awards Competition, sponsored by the Information Technology Authority (ITA), taking gold in two categories: best Omani website and best Omani educational website.

As part of a nationwide scheme to eradicate illiteracy in the Sultanate, the Ministry of Education has introduced a number of adult literacy programmes, including the ‘educated village’ project, launched during the Arab Gulf states’ education ministers’ conference held in Oman’s South Batinah Region in the 2004-2005 school year. After an initial pilot scheme proved successful, the project was extended to various parts of the country.

The Special Needs Sector

Special needs education in Oman has advanced significantly over the past two decades. The main schools in this sector include Al Amal School for the Deaf, the Omar bin al Khattab Institute for the Blind , and the Al Wafa Centre for the Blind.

The Ministry of Education’s learning difficulties programme provides services in Basic Education schools for students with special needes, rather than transferring them to specialist schools. The programme began in two schools in the 2000-2001 school year; it currently - in the 2007-2008 educational year –covers 300 schools across the country.

In an experimental initiative, the Ministry placed students handicapped by hearing difficulties and special educational needs, in classes in four Basic Education schools. The experiment yielded positive results in the 2006-2007 school year and has since been extended to cover four educational regions – the South Batinah, North Sharqiyah, North Dhahirah and the Governorate of Dhofar.

Electronic learning

The Ministry of Education has adopted the concept of electronic learning in which educational and training programmes are presented over the internet. Students who are part of this scheme will either study alone or with the assistance of a teacher. This programme is one of the main channels for distance learning and follows two lines of approach: the ‘virtual class’ system - in which interactive ‘virtual classes’ are the main electronic learning tool for presenting lectures on the internet - and the ‘self-paced learning’ system.

HIGHER EDUCATION

In 2007 the final plans were completed for the construction of the Ministry of  Higher Education building and classrooms at the College of Applied Sciences in Ibri. Work began on the classroom project at the College of Education in Rustaq and renovation work was carried out on the College of Applied Sciences in Sur following the damage it sustained in the cyclone, which struck the Sultanate in the summer of 2007. The Ministry of Higher Education continues to send students on scholarships abroad. There are currently Omanis in Australia, New Zealand, the United States, the UK, France and Germany. There are two categories of sponsorship, full scholarships,  and partial scholarships.

>Colleges of Applied Sciences

In 2007, Royal Decree No. 62/2007, converted five Colleges of Education – in Sohar, Sur, Nizwa, Ibri and Salalah - into Colleges of Applied Sciences. In the same year Oman’s Colleges of Applied Sciences Language laboratories will be installed at each of the five Colleges of Applied Sciences, along with information technology (IT) centres.

Private higher education institutions

From the moment the door was first opened to private investment in higher education the sector has seen steady progress. The Accreditation Council was set up by Royal Decree in 2001 to regulate the accreditation, assessment and quality control of the Sultanate’s higher education institutions and several plans and programmes have been drawn up to guarantee the standards of the higher education sector. The government offers extensive facilities and support to encourage the growth of private higher education institutions. Non-government universities receive grants totalling 50% of their paid-up capital, to a maximum of RO3 million.

Academic Chairs.

The Ministry of Higher Education supervises His Majesty’s Chairs in Baihrain, Melbourne , Utrecht and Leiden.

The Higher Education Admissions Centre (HEAC)

The Higher Education Admissions Centre (HEAC) co-ordinates procedures for admitting students enrolling in higher education. An electronic data exchange system was set up in 2007 to exchange information and statistics between the HEAC and institutions and schools. In 2007 the HEAC was awarded the WordSmith, an award for the world’s best electronic product by a panel of 36 judges from various countries for its concept of an electronic student admissions system.

Sultan Qaboos University (SQU)

Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) is one of the Arab world’s leading academic institutions. From the moment it received its first student intake in 1986 the university has endeavoured to establish itself as one of the Sultanate’s academic and scientific pioneers.

Today SQU offers a wider range of opportunities for general secondary certificate graduates than ever before. . SQU has added a number of first degree and diploma programmes to its range of courses. In the 2006-2007 academic year approval was granted for a bachelor’s degree programme in music at the College of Arts and Social Sciences, a higher diploma programme in vocational guidance at the College of Education and an intermediate diploma programme in applied statistics at the College of Science.

Scientific research is of critical importance to SQU’s plans, devised to upgrade the quality of education offered by at the university, while enhancing its contribution to the sciences and human knowledge. .In 2007 His Majesty personally funded four strategic research projects.

SQU’s eight research centres are: the Centre for Environmental Studies and Research, the Communications Research Centre, the Oil and Gas Research Centre (Shell Chair), the Seismological Centre, the Centre for Remote Sensing and Geographical Information Systems, the Water Research Centre, the Virtual Reality Centre for Carbonate Studies and the Oman Studies Centre.

The University’s ten colleges are: - the Colleges of Science, Education, Engineering, Arts and Social Sciences, Commerce and Economy, Agriculture and Marine Sciences, Medicine and Health Sciences; Law and Nursing SQU awards bachelor’s and master’s degrees, as well as higher diplomas and doctorates.

SQU Hospital

Sultan Qaboos University Teaching Hospital’s highly specialised medical facilities include a bone marrow transplant centre, a sleep disorders diagnostic and treatment unit, an iodine radiation unit as well as electronic microscopes and cell flow analysis equipment. SQU Hospital is the only one in Oman to offer these specialist services, along with others including paediatric neurology, rheumatism and diabetes treatment services, as well as artery surgery, cornea transplants and renal dialysis.

The National Commission for Education, Culture and Science

The National Commission for Education, Culture and Science seeks to promote development in education, culture and the sciences, as well as communications.In 2007 and 2008 it contributed to a huge number of projects, conferences and seminars. The Commission’s Secretariat-General attended the 34th session of UNESCO’s General Conference in Paris, as well as the seventh co-ordination meeting of heads of delegations of the member states of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) in Paris on 18th October 2007, the meeting of National Committee secretaries in Kuwait and the first meeting of secretaries of National Committees and the Arab Gulf states’ Arab Education Office.

The Commission has held several seminars and training workshops on education-related topics as well as a variety of events linked to Unesco. It endeavours to ensure there is an active Omani presence at Arab and international forums.

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