Keeping pace with His Majesty’s vision on education, Oman has achieved great strides in higher education. The country believes that its membership in the WTO and plans to become an open economy will bring in new job opportunities for its educated youngsters.
Says H E Dr Ali al Bemani, Vice-Chancellor of Sultan Qaboos University, “As we all know, and as we speak, the focus in higher education has shifted towards research and innovation and development of an entrepreneurial society. Therefore, one of the key issues that Oman’s higher education today has to focus on and to act swiftly upon is the challenge of globalisation and its effectiveness as the main driver of the change into the an entrepreneurial society.”
Though state-run colleges still dominate the academic scene in the country, private institutions are catching up with state-of-the-art infrastructure and high-profile tie-ups with premier institutions abroad. Currently, private sector colleges account for 27 per cent of total admissions in the country.
Not content with just the numbers, the government has rightly focused on quality as well. Quality assurance in Oman got a big boost with setting up of Oman Accreditation Council, which floated the Oman Quality Network (OQN). The first national quality conference was held in Muscat in October 2008. Again, the establishment of The Research Council has given a major impetus to research activities in the country.
For the benefit of the economy and the private sector, the academic curriculum is framed based on the feedback from local industry so that there is no gap between practical and theoretical knowledge. Localisation of higher education has given students in Oman an edge.
With several prestigious institutes here, students now have the option of higher studies in the comfort of their home turf instead of spending huge money overseas. According to a research paper present at the meeting of International Institute for Education Planning, in the academic year 2007-08, 96 per cent of college students in Oman were local. Another trend is the development of the private-public partnership.
Education has been the centre of the social reforms and in this year’s budget, education and training spending is budgeted to rise by 10.5 per cent to RO874mn. This allocation, representing 35 per cent of the total current expenditure, has sent the right message to students and the sector.
1. SQU
2. Caledonian College
3. Waljat College of Applied Sciences
4. Modern Gulf Institute
5. Gulf College
6. College of Banking and Financial Services
7. AMIDEAST
8. Khimji Training Institute
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