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ISSN: 2455-5703
Abstract
In Middle East, Sultanate of Oman was one of the first countries to pursue sustainable development. The Omani government has
worked for and is working since the last 40 years to transform lifestyles along new lines and principles. The success of this
“Sustainable Development” applauded as a strategy and was recognized by the 2010 UN Human Development Report. Strong
political commitment is needed to lead societies towards sustainability. But making this commitment starts with each one of the
citizens, with right attitudes and behaviors. These can only happen through education. We need to educate today the chemists,
engineers and manufacturers that the world needs for tomorrow. More fundamentally, we must educate today the tomorrow’s
responsible citizens and consumers. Diversifying economies beyond oil and gas is vital. The development of tourism and
agriculture cannot be based on the poor use of limited resources. The International Conference on Education for Sustainable
Development reflects the long-standing commitment of the Sultanate of Oman to these objectives. Sustainable development is a
bigger picture, and needs for example to build on cultural and biological diversity. In this study, the researcher makes an attempt
to understand the prevailing system in Oman with possible suggestions to lead the country towards Sustainable Development.
Keywords- Education, Sustainable Development, Economic Growth, Oman
I. INTRODUCTION
Since the 1970s, public education provision in Oman has flourished. Almost all Omani children of basic education age are now
enrolled in schools, along with a high proportion (86 percent) of those of post-basic education age. The Government of Oman has
turned its attention to ensuring that the achievements made to date are not only maintained but also further enhanced to achieve a
high-quality, efficient and relevant education system. This report is the result of an education sector study undertaken
collaboratively by the Government of Oman and the World Bank to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the system and to
provide recommendations to continue to improve education outcomes in Oman. Drawing on evidence and information from a wide
variety of sources, this study concentrates on pre-tertiary education and examines aspects of access to education, quality of learning,
teachers and teaching methods, relevance of education to the labor market, and the financing and management of the education
system. The study offers some policy recommendations on the way forward.
economy from oil based economy to knowledge based economy can be considered as an example of structural-change model. That
change cannot be achieved without changing the educational system. The changes in educational system has taken place in Oman
by moving the education from public to basic education, in which the basic education seeks to improve student's skills,
communication, critical thinking, and keep them abreast to technological changes.
In 2013 almost all children in the sultanate were enrolled in school, 98% of students completed primary school that year
and 92% were enrolled in secondary school. Human capital is a key element for human resource development that contributes to
improve other forms of capital, so investing on it has a positive effect on economic development, society and economic growth.
Then introducing basic system was crucial to make students ready to meet the requirement of economic development. Students at
different level of education in the future will become employees in work / labor market and will contribute to the ongoing national
development, so they should be treated as assets rather than liabilities.
Ministry of Education (MoE) undertake vision 2040’s targets and focus on clear strategies to ensure sustained
development. Instead, it seems logical to agree more with the study between the International Bank and MoE which argues that
the responsibility for policy analysis, training and development of human resources in the education sector is responsibility of other
four ministries in addition to MoE including Ministry of Higher Education, Ministry of the workforce, Ministry of Health and
Ministry of Social development. It is difficult to coordinate the goals of development and address issues that require agreement of
different ministries without a central point in charge of coordination which is an aspect of the challenge in developing the Omani
education.
V. OMANIZATION
In Oman, the Omanization program has been in operation since 1988, working toward replacing expatriates with trained Omani
personnel. The goal of this initiative is to provide jobs for the rapidly growing Omani population. The state has allotted subsidies
for companies to hire local employees not only to gradually reduce reliance on foreign workers but also to overcome an
overwhelming employment preference on the part of Omanis for government jobs.
Omanization, however, in the private sector is not always successful. One of the reasons is that jobs are still filled by
expatriates because of the lower wages. Studies reveal that an increasing number of the job openings in the private sector pay the
official minimum salary for nationals, which is an unattractive employment prospect for the locals. There is also the problem of
placing Omani workers in senior positions due to the fact that a significant chunk of the workforce is composed of young and
inexperienced Omanis.
As stated in the above diagram (Figure 1), it is one of the most relevant step taken by the authorities where the two-year post-basic
education system has gradually replaced the two years of secondary education under the general education system. The post-basic
education curriculum is organized on a “core plus electives” model, and students are given an element of choice. During these two
years, students’ school experience is expected to prepare them for life after school either for higher education or for entry into the
labor market. To this end, all students are required to complete a graduation project.
The education system has experienced many reform efforts in recent years. Recent reforms have focused mainly on basic
and post-basic schools. They have included such features as a student-centered approach to teaching and learning; introduction of
information technology (IT) and life skills; emphasis on real-life applications in the curriculum; continuous assessment; and
reduction of class size. Added resources have included learning resource centers in schools; computer labs in cycle two schools
(grades 5–10); halls for curricular activities and for environment life skills; stores, canteens, and health rooms; and air conditioners
for classrooms. The MOE has also raised initial teacher qualification standards. A school-based management process was
introduced to give schools and their employees a greater role in planning, implementation and self-management. A program to
evaluate overall school performance has been in operation for some years.
The MOE recognized that the amount of school time was inadequate to prepare students for the globally competitive
economy. In response, it increased the official number of “instruction days” per year to 180 days for basic and general education
schools, and it extended the length of the school day from four to over six hours for basic and general education. In theory, this
increase (68 percent) in instruction time would bring Omani students in line with standards in many developed countries. Since
the 1970s, Oman has made remarkable achievements in providing students with access to schools and to trained teachers. From a
total of three schools for just over 900 male students in 1970 to now, 40 years later, the country has 1,283 schools and over 600,000
students. Universal basic education has been virtually achieved, and the secondary education gross enrollment ratio (GER) is high
compared to many countries. The Government appreciates that, having achieved highly impressive school access results, its efforts
must now turn to ensuring that students achieve satisfactory levels of learning — a necessary condition for economic and personal
development.
The data given in the above table (Figure 5) shows that in most of the cases the year wise growth of the economy is becoming
positive in nature as the liabilities are decreasing and growth is gradual. This became possible because of the non-dependency on
other developed countries for the upgraded technology as the country is now able to arrange the same in the home country. This
became possible because of the spread of higher education in the country and a number of right decisions taken by the respective
authorities. The level of higher education has increased in the country; work force is becoming more and more skilled and is
committed to work for the growth of the economy.
VIII. CONCLUSION
‘Type of Education Frames the future of human being’ this stands true in case of Oman, where the respective authorities have
taken all the measures to improve the level of education in the country i.e. primary as well as higher education. Apparently the
researcher feels that the resources should be shifted toward quality-related inputs and to support teaching and learning initiatives.
This resource shift could be achieved by reviewing the remuneration system for teaching and administrative staff. In particular,
the review should focus on student-teacher and teacher-administrator ratios, which are currently low. Consideration could be given
to the use of allowances to link remuneration to performance or acceptance of hardship posts rather than to seniority alone. Other
management and finance initiatives aimed at improving quality include granting more financial autonomy and management
responsibility to the governorates, regions and schools to make decisions more relevant to local contexts; conducting a tracking
study of public finance for education to identify possible inefficiencies in resource allocation; and ensuring that the data required
to make sound informed policy decisions in education are produced in a timely manner and are valid and reliable. These measures
will certainly improve the situation at ground level and when the students opt for the higher education then this effort will improve
the situation where the higher education students use to thrive for basic knowledge of the related subjects and they will be able to
concentrate on their learning.
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