For a Better Tomorrow
G
iven that the greatest anticipation of Omanisation is that in the future Omani nationals, rather than the expatriate workforce, will be the contributing workforce promoting the efficiency and effectiveness of both the public and the private sectors, this goal will remain high on the agenda with the Government. It will continue to fund higher education in order to develop Omani professionals and technical expertise in the conviction that higher education, together with training, should develop nationals to the necessary degree that would lead to higher participation of Omanis in the workforce. Furthermore, the Government is under considerable pressure to strike the difficult balance between improving stability in the short term and creating jobs for its citizens in the longer term. The trend towards higher education spending and a broadening of curricula in an effort to link students at all levels more strongly with the practicalities and demands of the market seems all set to continue. There has been a steady increase in the number of both government and private universities in the Sultanate, with the private sector playing an increasingly active role to the extent that private colleges now take in some 27% of total admissions. The table in the next page illustrates the total number of students registered for higher education during 2010-11. Considering that the overall literacy rate in the Sultanate is now 86.7% and that for young Omanis aged 15-24 it has reached 97.6%, and considering that the number of young Omanis entering both public and private universities and colleges is increasing annually, and also 10
considering that the Government will likely turn to the private sector in the coming years to support the expansion of higher education, the overall future position of the education sector looks very promising…or does it? Since the inception of the Omanisation policy, private sector employers have experienced disappointment at the consistent mismatch between the skill set of Omani university graduates and the requirements of the jobs for which they apply. This suggests that Government efforts to broaden the education curricula in efforts to link students with the practicalities and demands of the market have, for the most part, been unsuccessful. As previously stated, the consensus is that the palpable lack of hard and soft skills in Omani recruits is at the heart of the issue. Evidence further suggests that the anticipated success of the Omanisation programs, which rely heavily on training and development of nationals, is doubtful due to their lack of strict enforcement. We can therefore conclude that the Government of Oman is facing three major challenges: 1) How to effectively educate and train the youth to the level of knowledge and skills required to meet the demands of the market? 2) How to succeed at encouraging nationals to take up manual and technical jobs in the private sector? 3) How to succeed at vigorously promoting the importance of blue collar jobs to the nation’s longterm sustainable development in the eyes of nationals and at dignifying these jobs? As our present predicament
clearly indicates that neither higher education initiatives nor specialised training programs have succeeded to adequately prepare the youth of Oman with the employability skills required to meet the demands of a competitive corporate market, the solution must therefore lie elsewhere. Educators and other credible sources have repeatedly suggested that, in the long term, Omanisation can only be effective when we acknowledge that there is … “a clear link between education, knowledge and required skills and that schools must play an important role in providing human capital equipped with the right kind of education, skills and competencies that will gain employment in the private sector”. Educators also agree that the most important mission of schools is to develop in students during the formative years both the love of learning and the right character traits, right values and right attitudes that will lead to future success. For this reason, “schools” are said to be the core of learning and development, and not institutions of higher education. The premise is that the seeds for the success of Omanisation need to be planted in the nation’s youth early on, not later and that these seeds need to be cultivated in an educational environment that demands excellence, not mediocrity. Understandably, it would appear that in the frenzy for quick results this vital factor may have escaped the equation. Considering that the population of Oman is growing exponentially and that over two-thirds are below the age of 25, it is fairly safe to assume that the demand for quality education during the formative years will continue proportionally, and that demand