Education & Training
From The Report: Oman 2016
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Successive five-year plans have seen Oman’s education system evolve rapidly, with highlights including the expansion of special education programs and the development of teacher-training colleges. In 2013 almost all children in the sultanate were enrolled in school while almost 98% of students completed primary school that year and 92% were enrolled in secondary school. Despite a drop in oil and gas revenues, the sultanate maintained its commitment to education spending in its 2015 budget, with the sector retaining a major share of state expenditure. This will enable a greater focus on both developing the physical infrastructure of the sector and improving the quality of its delivery. Meanwhile a national TVET strategy has been designed to address any mismatches between the requirements of the labor market and the skills and abilities of graduates.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

All part of the plan: Focusing on teaching and training for business and industry
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Fundamental to the sultanate’s long-term development plans, education and training have long been a central focus both for government expenditure and private sector investment. Over the past few decades, this focus has borne fruit in the form of some major and rapid successes. Omani young people, male and female, from all regions and social classes, now receive a sound, universal core education. On the current agenda is the next stage: the successful development of education and training programmes…

Analysis

Budget focus: Commitment to financing education maintained despite falling oil revenues
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Despite declining oil and gas revenues, Oman maintained its commitment to education spending in its 2015 budget, with the sector retaining a major share of state expenditure. This bodes well for 2016 and beyond, too, as the government clearly recognises that the long-term health of the broader economy, as well as of its citizenry, depends to a large measure on the success of its education and training initiatives. Lion’s Share With details released at the start of 2015, the sultanate’s budget…

Analysis

Practical application: Vocational training is linking education and business
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In addition to the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Higher Education, Oman’s Ministry of Manpower (MoM) also has a key role in the sector, with its responsibilities including oversight of technical and vocational education and training (TVET). The ministry exercises this role via two directorates general – one for vocational training and the other for technical training – and TVET-Oman, which has been working to bring together a wide variety of stakeholders, from the Oman Chamber…