In the first stage of development, roads, infrastructure and schools were created while teachers were invited, initially from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and neighboring Arab lands. In the 1980s and 1990s, as Oman's economic take-off began to show steam, educators from South Asian and eventually all corners of the globe began to arrive to help in the development of Oman and its educational institutions. (The department in college where I currently teach English in Oman typically has educators from 20 to 25 different countries active in it.)
Sultan "Qaboos preferred to win the loyalty of his subjects not by holding back the clock but by encouraging modernization--in the form of education, commerce, technology and democracy. In the interview, he said his greatest pride is the state's Sultan Qaboos University, established in 1985, where--he noted proudly--a majority of the students are women." His government then announced plans to charter four more private institutions of higher learning. Meanwhile, nascent agricultural schools and eventually a system of applied science and technical colleges were set up and running by early in the 21st century.
This boom in education was largely financed by Omani successes in harnessing and exporting petroleum and natural gas, and an increasingly trained citizenry (and newly arrived immigrants from South Asia and the West) could help. Prior to the establishment of Sultan Qaboos U niversity, the government of Oman sent students to pursue higher education studies in neighboring Arab countries like UAE, Kuwait, Jordan and Egypt. Also some students were awarded scholarships to study in the UK and America. Alas, there is still only one state-funded university in all of Oman (25% large in size and population than Kansas).
Oman's Ministry of Higher Education administers now six Colleges of Applied Sciences across the country. However, there has been consideration of consolidating them with the technical colleges in the land. Oman's Ministry of Manpower operates the Higher College of Technology in Muscat and six colleges of technology in Al-Mussana, Ibra, Ibri, Nizwa, Shinas, and Salalah, where I have taught for half a decade. This consolidation will be done in order to create a greater state-run university system, i.e. similar to the one in Kansas. (Among all the colleges of technology in Oman currently, only the one in Muscat is a 4-year institution. It is known as Higher Colleges of Technology. The other 6 colleges offer only 2 or 3 year diplomas and certificate programs)
As a collectivist culture, Oman's practice or tradition is to deliberate long and focus on stability before agreeing upon major changes. This is one reason the new state universities have not yet been created out of the Colleges of Applied Science and the many technical colleges.
The other problem has been the central government's hyper-focusedness on austerity rather than taking on new projects. For this reason, too, the stakeholders in the ministries of higher education and of manpower are tightfisted with all their moneys currently.
This centralized focus on austerity in Oman these days may be appropriate for other parts of the Sultanates, but such a vision is failing to improve primary, secondary, and tertiary education. Failing in education should not be an option for Oman in 2016 or the future. This is because education, training, and research are required to move Oman away from its over-dependence on petroleum and gas industry production and exports. Such a massive transformation and restructuring needs manpower--trained manpower and awell-educated populace or citizenry.
In Kansas and in other parts of the globe, state-funding has been replace by privatization of funding and through the creation of private institutions. However, in Oman there are currently only 5 private universities trying to compete with the likes of SQU (Sultan Qaboos University) and the single-existing Higher Colleges of Technology. Noone is able to keep up with those institutions, though. Worse, both those institutions are located in Muscat. SQU has around 15,000 students annually. The Higher College of Technology institute has about 7300 students. (That is less than any of the three largest state colleges in Kansas have. )
There is in my region of Oman one private university, Dhofar University, whose financing came originally mostly out of Saudi Arabia. The campus could easily hold 10,000 students but has never had more than 2/3 that number.
One issue for all colleges and universities--especially the private ones, though,-- is that Oman in its speed to develop has not promoted the work skills, the study skills, and the educational appreciation (& effort & rigor) required for completing degrees at average universities.
The other more important issue is that state-run institutions are free to Omanis--the only problem is that they are very competitive to get into. In short, Omanis have not been learning to value education as much as they could have over these past 5 decades of the Omani Renaissance. Omans depend on or count on moneys and support from government to grow and to live out their lives but they are not being trained to be willing to pay for the great prizes of learning on their own.
This contrasts greatly with Kansas and the USA, which determined over a century ago (centuries ago) that education was more valuable than complacency or traditions. Many Americans advocate wholeheartedly, too, against dependency on government largess. (On the other hand, this naturally means that students in Kansas and America are willing to pay a lot more for their education than their Omani counterparts are willing to do.)
As noted with the case of Dhofar University, where a lot of funding for its creation arrived from Saudi Arabia, there are several other four other primarily foreign-funded universities in Oman, including the German University of Technology (GUtech). As well there are about 19 private colleges.
Most of these private colleges are supported either through one of the ministries or from funds from investors abroad or from a few wealthy Omani families who are extremely interested in education. (Students and their family also often have to pay but sometimes a company or government scholarships are available.) Included among these private colleges are specialized colleges of medicine, dentistry, and tourism. There are also colleges of maritime, business, technology and management. Finally, there is the Al-Zahra College for Women, which supports traditions in education of some Omanis.
Meanwhile, over the decades, there has been a boom throughout Oman in the growth and numbers of private primary and secondary schools. This was delayed initially because Omanis did not have enough resources early on budgeted for education. Also, there was certainly a necessary rise in demand as a large number of expats arrived with family to live and work in the country only to be dissatisfied with the low levels being offered wherever they were located in the land. This is why Oman has some of the larger Indian schools in the Middle East--the one Indian School here in Salalah has nearly 5000 students currently.
In recent times, though, there has been some good news. It is now widely acknowledged: "After many years of only a basic educational system, the Omani government has " improved the quality of education. Having said that, while primary school level education is of a high standard, secondary education still remains lacking in certain areas and it is thought that expat students would be better served by studying in their home countries." The improvements in primary and even pre-school education (by both private and public institutions) have been noticeable even in the short 5 years I have lived int he country of Oman.
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