Education in Oman
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The Education in Oman is provided free of charge up to end of secondary education, though attendance is not mandatory at any level. In 1970 there were only three formal schools with 900 students in the whole state .
Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...
's national educational program expanded rapidly during the 1970s and the 1980s. In 2006–2007 about 560,000 students attended 1053 public schools. The number of students in private schools is about 65,000. There are also extensive programmes to combat adult illiteracy. Sultan Qaboos University, the only national university near Muscat, was founded in 1986, and in 2006 it had 13,500 students. The
Human Development Report The Human Development Report (HDR) is an annual Human Development Index report published by the Human Development Report Office of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The first HDR was launched in 1990 by the Pakistani economist ...
found the literacy rate to be 93.0% in adults, up from 54.7% in 1990. For the same period, the youth
literacy rate Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in written form in some specific context of use. In other words, huma ...
increased from 85.6 to 97.3%. Public expenditure on education was reported to be 4.6% of GDP and 26.1% of total government spending.


Pre-school education

Pre school education is provided to children less than 10 years old. It is offered by the private sector and some public organisations. Supervision is the responsibility of the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Social Affairs. Nursery enrolment is very limited and estimated to be only 1%.
Kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...
is available mostly in large cities and enrolment is estimated to be 15%. Attendance usually extends from 8:00 a.m. to 12:30 pm, the teacher being free to organise this period as they deem appropriate between school learning and artistic and leisure activities. The Ministry of Education is in the process of finalising the advanced curriculum for the kindergarten level, based on self-learning as a method and centered on the Omani child and on his/her environment, cultural heritage and civilisation.


Basic education

In 1997, the ministry began development work on a Basic Education programme to gradually replace the three level General Education system. The aim of the reform is to create a unified system covering the first ten years of schooling. Basic Education is organised into two cycles: the first cycle covers grades 1 to 4 and the second cycle covers grades 5 to 10. These two cycle are followed by two years of post-Basic Education system (secondary education). The first schools started to introduce the new system in the academic year 1998/1999.


Secondary education

Lasts for three years or you can graduate at any time. Oman retains a number of grammar schools of international renown and a majority of which are private educational establishments offering Classics beyond Latin and Greek to include the ancient literary studies of Sanskrit, Hebrew and Arabic. Notable ones include
Al Sahwa Schools AL, Al, Ål or al may stand for: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Al (Aladdin), Al (''Aladdin'') or Aladdin, the main character in Disney's ''Aladdin'' media * Al (EastEnders), Al (''EastEnders''), a minor character in the British ...
, The American International School of Muscat, Pakistan School Muscat, Pakistan School Salalah,
Indian School Muscat Indian School Muscat (abbreviated: ISM) is an Indian school in the Darsait area of Muscat, Oman. The school is a non commercial organization established and funded by the local Indian community and parents. It is managed by a group of 15-21 hono ...
,
American British Academy The American British Academy (later renamed ABA - An IB World School, or simply ABA), established in September 1987, is a private, non-profit, co-educational international school in Muscat, Oman Muscat ( ar, مَسْقَط, ) is the Capital ( ...
, the
British School Muscat British School Muscat (BSM) is a not-for-profit, co-educational, British international day school in Muscat, Oman, that provides a comprehensive education to English-speaking expatriate pupils aged 3–18. The school follows an enhanced version o ...
, the
Indian School Al Ghubra The Indian School Al Ghubra (ISG) is an independent school, independent, mixed-sex education, co-educational private day school located in the city of Muscat, Oman, Muscat in the Sultanate of Oman. The school was founded in July 1990 by Indian bo ...
and
The Sultan's School The Sultan's School is a private school in Seeb, Oman. The student roll is around 1300 from KG through to year 13. The curriculum is bilingual, with Arabic Language, Islamic Education and Social Studies taught in Arabic, and English Language, ...
.


Higher education

The Omani higher education system is relatively young, as the first public university in Oman, Sultan Qaboos University was founded in 1986. Prior to the establishment of SQU, the government sent some students to pursue higher education studies in neighbouring Arab countries like
UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...
,
Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...
,
Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
and
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
. Also some students were awarded scholarships to study in the UK and
America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. SQU is self-administered and has nine colleges. The colleges of Arts and Social Sciences, Commerce and Economics, Education, Law, and Nursing offer bachelor's and some master's degrees. Starting from September 2008, SQU began introducing PhD studies in its colleges of Agriculture and Marine Sciences, Medicine and Health Sciences, Engineering, and Science. A bachelor's degree takes about five years, as the first is spent studying English, and the second studying relevant science subjects; the last three years are dedicated to core degree units. A medicine degree takes seven years. The public university is normally visited by Omanis only. Expatriates go – as a general rule – to private universities or study abroad. Oman's Ministry of Higher Education administers the six
Colleges of Applied Sciences A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering v ...
. These were formerly colleges of education, but in 2005 Royal Decree No. 62/2007 was issued to transform them to better cater to the current labour market in fields such as international business administration, communication, design, engineering, and IT. They are located in
Ibri , native_name_lang = ar , nickname = , settlement_type = Town , motto = , image_skyline = Ibri, Oman (2013).jpg , image_caption = Fort Ibri , image_flag = , image_shield ...
, Nizwa,
Salalah Salalah ( ar, صَلَالَة, Ṣalālah) is the capital and largest city of the southern Omani governorate of Dhofar. Its population in 2009 was about 197,169. Salalah is the third-largest city in the Sultanate of Oman, and the largest city ...
,
Sohar Sohar ( ar, صُحَار, also Romanized as Suḥār) is the capital and largest city of the Al Batinah North Governorate in Oman. An ancient capital of the country that once served as an important Islamic port town, Suhar has also been credited ...
,
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, and
Rustaq Rustaq ( ar, ٱلرُّسْتَاق, Ar-Rustāq) is a town and ''Wilayah'' (District) in Al Batinah Region of northern Oman. The wilayah is in the Western Hajar Mountains, in the south of the Batinah. Rustaq was once the capital of Oman, during ...
. The College of Applied Sciences in Rustaq is the only one that still offers an education degree. The Ministry also has a department that sanctions private colleges and universities. Oman Tourism Collegebr>
(OTC) was established in 2001, by the Government of Oman i.e. the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the Ministry of Tourism. Oman's Ministry of Manpower operates the
Higher College of Technology University Of Technology And Applied Sciences (UTAS) is a public university operated in 9 governorates . It has 11 different branches spread over the different part of the country. It was the first Higher Education institution in Oman. Currently, ...
in Muscat and six colleges of technology in Al-Mussana,
Ibra The Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (IBRA) is a biogeographic regionalisation of Australia developed by the Australian government's Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population, and Communities. It was devel ...
,
Ibri , native_name_lang = ar , nickname = , settlement_type = Town , motto = , image_skyline = Ibri, Oman (2013).jpg , image_caption = Fort Ibri , image_flag = , image_shield ...
, Nizwa,
Salalah Salalah ( ar, صَلَالَة, Ṣalālah) is the capital and largest city of the southern Omani governorate of Dhofar. Its population in 2009 was about 197,169. Salalah is the third-largest city in the Sultanate of Oman, and the largest city ...
, and
Shinas Shinas (شناص in Arabic), population 43,312 as of 2005, is a coastal town in northern Oman, near the border between Oman and United Arab Emirates. Shinas has a distinctive collection of traditional buildings. The port of Shinas has dhows tha ...
. The Ministry of Health runs a number of health institutes to prepare assisting medical staff like nurses, paramedics and pharmacists. The Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs sanctions the College of Sharia Sciences. The Central Bank of Oman sanctions the College of Banking and Financial Studies. As the number of students finishing secondary school goes up each year (44,000 were expected to finish in 2008), SQU and other public colleges have become unable to cope with the demand. Since private colleges were very limited in the mid nineties, more and more students sought higher education in countries like the
UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...
,
Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
and
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
. The government became aware of the trend and decided to encourage the private sector in Oman to form universities and colleges. The first private college was established in 1994. Since this date, a number of private colleges and universities have been started in Oman. Most of them focus on popular studies such as business administration and computer sciences. They are usually affiliated with European, Australian or American institutions. The language of instruction is mainly English. A’Sharqiya University, in Ibra, opened its doors in the fall of 2010. In the year 2003, Oman's Ministry of Higher Education approved the merger of five private run colleges to form the Muscat University. However, the plan to merge Fire Safety Engineering College, Majan College, Modern College of Business & Science, Middle East College and Mazoon College for Management and Applied Sciences failed (source: Oman Observer 18 July 2005). Currently, there is some talk that the plan to form Muscat University may be revived. As part of the eOman initiative, applications for 2006/2007 higher education (public and private) places have been merged under one unified online system (Higher Education Admissions Center). Each higher education institute publishes the minimum entry requirement for each of its degrees and the student selects his or her choices in order of preference. When the Ministry of Education publishes secondary school results in mid July, these results are fed automatically into the system and offers are made in early August. Prior to the new system, the students had to submit their papers to the different institutes by themselves after the publication of results. The process was very inconvenient for the students and the admission departments as there was very little time and students had to travel a lot.


References

*http://www.unesco.org/education/wef/countryreports/oman/contents.html#cont *http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001472/147202e.pdf *http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001411/141188eo.pdf *http://www.ibe.unesco.org/International/ICE47/English/Natreps/reports/oman_part_1.pdf *https://web.archive.org/web/20080411171302/http://www.mohe.gov.om/ge.pdf *https://web.archive.org/web/20080411171316/http://www.mohe.gov.om/UE.pdf *http://www.mohe.gov.om/coas/


External links


Government


Ministry of EducationMinistry of Higher EducationHigher Education Admissions CenterMinistry of ManpowerCultural Attaché Office – LondonOman Accreditation CouncilColleges of Applied Sciences


Public colleges and universities


Sultan Qaboos UniversityCollege of Banking and Financial StudiesIbri College of Applied SciencesSur College of Applied SciencesRustaq College of Applied SciencesSalalah College of Applied SciencesSohar College of Applied SciencesNizwa College of Applied SciencesHigher College of TechnologyAl Musanna College of TechnologyNizwa College of TechnologySalalah College of TechnologyShinas College of TechnologyIbra College of TechnologyIbri College of Technology


Private colleges


Al-Buraimi University CollegeOman College of Management and TechnologyAl-Zahra College for WomenBayan CollegeCaledonian College of EngineeringELS Language CentersInternational College of Engineering and ManagementInstitute of Public AdministrationInternational Maritime College OmanMajan University CollegeMazoon CollegeMiddle East CollegeModern College of Business and ScienceMuscat CollegeOman Dental CollegeDental CollegeOman Medical CollegeOman Tourism and Hospitality AcademyPolyglot Institute OmanRusayl InstituteSur University CollegeThe Scientific College of DesignWaljat College of Applied SciencesGulf College


Private universities


A’Sharqiya UniversityDhofar UniversitySohar UniversityUniversity of BuraimiUniversity of NizwaThe German University of TechnologyArab Open University


Private schools


Al Sahwa SchoolsAl Ibdaa Private SchoolAmerican British Academy
*
Bangladesh School Muscat Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

Beaconhouse Private School, Muscat
*
British School Muscat British School Muscat (BSM) is a not-for-profit, co-educational, British international day school in Muscat, Oman, that provides a comprehensive education to English-speaking expatriate pupils aged 3–18. The school follows an enhanced version o ...
*
École Française de Mascate École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...
* International School of Choueifat, Muscat
International School of Oman
Muscat * Indian School, Muscat *
Indian School, Al Wadi Al Kabir Indian School Al Wadi Al Kabir (ISWK), established in 1978, is located in the city of Muscat, Oman. The school was founded by Founded in 1941 as a Gujarati Medium School for the children of the members of the business community. Mr. Lobo was prin ...
*
Indian School, Al-Ghubra The Indian School Al Ghubra (ISG) is an independent school, independent, mixed-sex education, co-educational private day school located in the city of Muscat, Oman, Muscat in the Sultanate of Oman. The school was founded in July 1990 by Indian bo ...

Indian School, Darasait
* Indian School Muladha * Indian School, Sohar *Salalah International School *
Indian School Salalah The Indian School Salalah is an Indian-run, self-financing, co-educational institution, primarily established to meet the academic needs of children of Indian expatriates working in the Sultanate of Oman in the Persian Gulf.http://www.indiansc ...

Indian School Nizwa
*Pakistan School Muscat
Philippine School MuscatPDO SchoolBirla World SchoolSri Lankan School MuscatThe Sultan's SchoolThe American International School of Muscat
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