Education in Oman : the drive for quality (Vol. 1 of 2) : Summary report

 75719 v1 Summary Re p o r t Education in Oman The Drive for Quality Jointly prepared by The Ministry of Education and The World Bank  Education in Oman The Drive for Quality Summary Re p o r t Jointly prepared by The Ministry of Education and The World Bank H i s M a j es t y S u lta n Q a b oos bin Said Foreword of Her Excellency the Minister of Education W hen His Majesty Sultan Qaboos ascended to the throne in 1970, one of the first commitments of his Government was to develop a public education system that would reach all parts of the country and would include all sections of society. At that time, there were only three schools in the whole of the Sultanate of Oman, all of them at the primary level and all for boys. To all intents and purposes, therefore, the country was starting with what was virtually a clean slate in terms of comprehensive educational provision. With very low enrollment rates, the early focus of the Ministry of Education centered on issues related to access. The clear priorities of the country were to build the required educational infrastructure; to conduct a teacher recruitment program, mainly from abroad; and to develop a curriculum. The aims were to provide universal primary education, to expand provision to elementary and secondary education, and to promote gender equality. Within a period of 40 years, the situation has been completely transformed. In 2008, there were nearly 1,300 schools in the country, providing education from grades 1 to 12 for over 600,000 students, 48 percent of whom were female. There were over 43,000 teachers, of which 89 percent were Omani. Education participation levels in Oman are now equal to or above those observed in other Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries. The last 40 years has been a period of unprecedented development in the Sultanate, not only in education, but also economically and socially. The country is pursuing a development plan that focuses on economic diversification as a way of reducing its dependency on the oil sector. In addition, globalization of the world economy has brought its own strains, challenges and opportunities. These developments, coupled with the Government’s policy to “Omanize