On the Occasion of Oman Renaissance Day:Sultan Qaboos of Oman on Higher Education

On the Occasion of Oman Renaissance Day: Sultan Qaboos of Oman on Higher Education Published on July 23, 2016

Ali Mansouri Writer, Researcher, Consultant

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Very recently I have come across a video on YouTube about a visit made by his Majesty Sultan Qaboos of Oman to the first university in the country, SQU (Sultan Qaboos University). The visit was made in 2000 but the video (in Arabic) was published on YouTube in 2013, that is, after 13 years from the actual visit! The video contains His Majesty’s talk to the University’s administration, teachers, students and staff. It does not seem that this talk has been widely circulated to all those concerned with higher education in Oman or elsewhere though it contains very important and illuminating guidelines on higher education. The issues His Majesty talked about in 2000 are as valid now as they were valid then. I thought the video was a bit lengthy (about one hour and a half). But the moment I started watching it, I was fascinated by the high spirit, confidence and in-depth analysis with which His Majesty was talking about higher education in general and in Oman in particular. I watched the video more than once and was fascinated by the elevated and humanitarian tone of the talk and the actions on the video. I would like to share a summary of it with the readers on the glorious occasion of Oman Renaissance Day. His Majesty started his talk by expressing his gratitude to all those present in the audience and to all those who participated in serving the university and making it a reality and also those who served the higher education sector in the Sultanate of Oman.

“When we visit you, we are also visiting those who came before you in this University. We feel grateful to all those who participated in building the academic and educational edifice of this University and of Oman.”

This is a very elevated human spirit and feeling. It is an important guideline to all officials and senior managers who run the higher education system in Oman and elsewhere. It is a great lesson to them to appreciate the services done by their teachers and staff. It is really disheartening, and disrespectful at the same time, to serve a college or a university for many years and then you leave without anybody expressing any word of gratitude to you. They tell you, “we were paying you a salary!” This is really vulgar and very disgusting. They should be ashamed of themselves.

Such people make you wonder how they have crept into the higher education system with such stony feelings, hearts and lack of professional conduct and work ethics. What a big difference between His Majesty and those vulgar managers!

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I would like now to mention the main academic issues related to His Majesty’s talk: 

Education is light and light is against darkness.

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Knowledge is a weapon and we mean by knowledge here “the genuine knowledge” not the superficial one. We receive knowledge from those who have preceded us. They thought, studied, concluded and reached what they could reach through contemplation and thinking.

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We need to expand knowledge because it is renewable. New knowledge needs to be added all the time.

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The pre-university stages are stages of learning but when we come to the university stage, we need to think and add knowledge. We need also to correct any inaccuracies in knowledge as knowledge is not absolute but is renewable and expandable.

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For this reason, we want our university students to come up with new things to add to academic and human knowledge.

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From the very beginning, we have been focusing on the “quality of education” not quantity. We strongly believe that degrees and certificates are only pieces of paper if they are not backed up with genuine knowledge and deep academic background.

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We do not want people with degrees to “show off” and we never accept “fake” degrees and certificates. We know there are even “fake” PhD degrees in the world. We should be careful and on alert all the time.

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Academic research is very important for us. We very strongly encourage academic research and we will support this research personally (i.e. from His Majesty’s pocket) in addition to the support from the University’s budget. We will be very generous with academic research.

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We also need to do researches on history and correct any “errors” mentioned as historical facts but they were not so. There may be some historical contradictions which we need to set right and correct.

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We should not repeat things like “parrots”. To confiscate the freedom of thought and speech is a great sin regardless of whoever practices it.

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Our religion, Islam, advocates open-mindedness and always calls for the freedom of thought and expression.

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We should not walk in the crowd with our eyes closed. This is very unacceptable.

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We need to go up the ladder step by step. Officers get promoted in years. The study in the College of Medicine is for seven years and then the doctor spends five years as an intern doctor. This means he needs twelve years to be a qualified doctor. So we should not have arbitrary programs. All programs need to follow the criteria of quality and international standards. There must be enough time to implement them.

His Majesty also talked about Oman’s resources of wealth: oil, agriculture (though very limited), fish wealth, dates, light and medium industries, and Oman’s strategic position in the Gulf. These resources of wealth are for the whole nation and have been used for education, higher education and the general development of the country. At the end of the visit, His Majesty went on a tour of very nice exhibits and bookstalls beautifully arranged and made mostly by students. Then His Majesty shook hands with the University teachers one by one; both male and female teachers.

His Majesty has proved himself a very understanding statesman who understands how things are to be correctly interpreted and how priorities are to be reasonably ordered and implemented in a logical and practical manner for the benefits of his fellow citizens and for humanity as a whole.

He is a man of etiquette and appreciates other people’s services and achievements.

In order to put His Majesty’s guidelines to practice in higher education institutions and to make good use of resources, we may offer the following suggestions:

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1. Academic Programs are to be robust programs following international benchmarks and standards. There should be strict procedures to ensure the quality of these programs in reality not only on paper or “fake” documents.

2. University teaching should be based on sound theories and principles of education.

Books, references and other sources of genuine and original knowledge should be used in teaching and research and are made available for teachers and students. Tiny handouts paid for by the students should be prohibited because these tiny handouts represent an awkward and outdated style of teaching which does not fit the modern academic requirements. They are also illegal as per the International Copyright Laws.

3. There must be more focus on new knowledge and on creativity and innovations. Students and teachers need to avoid being “parrots” repeating blindly what they are told.

4. In order to prevent “fake” degrees and “fake” marks being allocated to students who do not deserve them, the Registration Departments in colleges and universities need to be very strictly controlled and monitored. Only honest and very reliable people should be allowed to work in the student Registration and records.

5. Cheating must be prevented and dealt with in accordance with strict rules. It is very unacceptable to find a university without any examinations rules or committees even after many years of its existence. This is complete chaos!

6. Higher education institutions which offer “worthless” degrees and certificates should be closed immediately. They are wasting the valuable human and financial resources of the nation.

7. University degree study plans are to be arranged in such a way as to guarantee high academic rigor and achievement. Students should move up these degree plans step by step; they should not be illegally pushed up for any reason. These degree plans are not to be exploited by some “money-minded” senior managers and investors to make huge profits. Making profits must not be the first goal of any higher education institution anywhere in the world.

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8. The qualifications of university senior managers, officials and teachers are to be rigorously checked and verified to prevent anyone with a “fake� degree creeping in. It is really a disaster if a university is run by people without higher academic qualifications or with fake degrees.

9. The positions of a VC and an Assistant VC are very important and influential in the management of a university. These two positions should be occupied by people who have good academic reputation and possess personal integrity. It is very damaging to higher education if these positions are left for incompetent and unqualified people infamous for dishonesty, cheating, conspiracies and crooked behaviour.

10. The appointment of university teachers and the renewal or non-renewal of work contracts are to be in line with higher education laws, bylaws and academic qualifications. It runs against all academic principles and international standards if the appointment of teachers and the renewal of their contracts are done on the basis of personal relations or for personal gains rather than academic rigor and national interests.

11. Academic freedom and freedom of expression within the law must be encouraged and respected. University teachers should not be punished just because they have opinions and ideas different from those of the VC or Assistant VC who themselves are incompetent and unqualified but, regrettably, they are the decision-makers and are not held accountable for their wrong decisions.

12. Academic researchers are to be generously rewarded for their academic research.

It is very clear that His Majesty has set up a leadership example of humility, generosity and indepth analysis of the higher education system. He has established the guidelines for university teaching and research as per internationally- accepted concepts and standards. Senior managers in colleges and universities in Oman and elsewhere will do a great service to their students and academic institutions if they follow His Majesty’s example and follow these guidelines which are based on the basic principles and core values of education and higher education in the world. I am really surprised to find a VC (Vice Chancellor), or an Assistant VC, in a university who behaves in a selfish and a very unfair and non-academic manner and does exactly the opposite to Page 6 of 7

what His Majesty has said in order to make huge profits at the expense of the students and quality education. They mistakenly believe the more money they make in this crooked and illegitimate way, the more successful the university is. This is utter nonsense and moral bankruptcy. Universities can make sustainable profits only through a good academic reputation and a recognizable record of teaching and research; not through deception, fake degrees and forgery. There is something very wrong with the mentality of these incompetent and corrupt people. They are inflicting serious damages on higher education and on the nation as a whole and should be stopped immediately; whoever they are and wherever they are!

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