Education in Oman The Drive for Quality

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Education in Oman

The Drive for Quality

Jointly prepared by The Ministry of Education and The World Bank

Public Disclosure Authorized

Public Disclosure Authorized

Public Disclosure Authorized

Public Disclosure Authorized

Education in Oman

The Drive for Quality

Jointly prepared by The Ministry of Education and The World Bank

His Majesty S u lta n Q a b oo s bin Said

Foreword of Her Excellency the Minister of Education

When 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" the workforce, have meant that the country's needs in terms of education have dramatically changed. To prosper in the global marketplace, the Sultanate requires an education system that can produce future employees who can engage in analytical thinking and problem solving and who are creative, adaptable and competitive.

In response to these demands, the attention of the Ministry of Education in recent years has shifted away from concerns about access (since 97 percent of basic school-age Omanis are enrolled in schooling) towards attempts to qualitatively improve and increase the relevance of the education system so as to prepare our students to meet the challenges of a knowledge-based economy. The Ministry of Education is presently engaged in a number of major reform initiatives across the whole system. A new basic education system designed to provide a unified program for grades 1 to 10 was introduced in 1998, and a new post-basic education system organized on a "core plus electives" model for grades 11 and 12 was introduced in 2007. The reforms emphasize changing teaching, learning and assessment methodologies, updating the curriculum, adding new resources, improving facilities, reducing class sizes and upgrading the qualifications and skills of teachers.

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Education in Oman The Drive for Quality

However, there are still persistent issues concerning the quality of student achievement that need to be addressed. The Government of Oman invited the World Bank to collaborate with the Ministry of Education to undertake a study of the school education sector to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the present system and to provide recommendations for future improvement. On behalf of the Ministry of Education, I would like to thank the World Bank for its considerable efforts and expertise in producing such a comprehensive and valuable report. I would also like to express my appreciation to all those within the Ministry of Education whose assistance to the World Bank team helped to improve the relevance and quality of the report. I am confident that the report prove to be of considerable benefit to the Sultanate in helping it to improve its educational system in terms of access, equity, quality and efficiency. We are grateful for the continued fruitful collaboration and support offered by the World Bank and, as always, we are deeply appreciative of its contribution.

With the strong political will and commitment of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos and his Government to the country's educational development, we believe we can successfully prepare our citizens for the great challenges facing our nation through our mission to provide them all with an Education of Quality and Excellence. In light of this, the report will undoubtedly be instrumental in helping us to design future successful educational policies and strategies.

Madiha Ahmed Al-Shaibani

Minister of Education Sultanate of Oman

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Education in Oman The Drive for Quality

9

Contents

Acknowledgements............................................................................................................................ 13 Acronyms............................................................................................................................................... 15 List of Figures....................................................................................................................................... 17 List of Tables......................................................................................................................................... 19 List of Boxes.......................................................................................................................................... 21 Overview.................................................................................................................................................. 23

Chapter 1.

Demographic, Economic and Social Context.............................. 29 1.1 Demographic Context............................................................................................. 31 1.2 Macroeconomic and Social Context................................................................ 32 1.3 Education Context..................................................................................................... 33

Chapter 2.

Access and Efficiency............................................................. 37 2.1 Achievements in Reaching the EFA Goals..................................................... 39 2.2 Remaining Steps on the Road to EFA............................................................. 47 2.3 Policy Implications..................................................................................................... 57

Chapter 3.

Quality of Student Learning..................................................... 63 3.1 Evidence from National-level Assessments.................................................. 65 3.2 Evidence from an International Assessment............................................... 66 3.3 Gender Differences.................................................................................................. 77 3.4 Policy Implications..................................................................................................... 83

Chapter 4.

Assessment, Curricula and School Year.................................... 87 4.1 Public Examinations................................................................................................. 89 4.2. Continuous Assessment........................................................................................ 91 4.3. Curriculum.................................................................................................................... 93 4.4. Official and Actual School Year........................................................................... 95 4.5. Standard Setting....................................................................................................... 97 4.6. Whole-school Evaluation.....................................................................................101 4.7. Capacity Building in Research and Evaluation..........................................103 4.8. Policy Implications..................................................................................................103

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Education in Oman The Drive for Quality

Chapter 5.

Teachers and Quality of Education.......................................... 111 5.1. Historical Context...................................................................................................113 5.2. Teacher Requirements.......................................................................................115 5.3. Deploying Teachers Where Needed.............................................................120 5.4. Selecting Student Teachers..............................................................................125 5.5. Initial Preparation of Teachers........................................................................127 5.6. Induction and In-service Support for Teachers........................................129 5.7. Teacher Utilization: Student-Teacher Ratio, Teaching Hours and Class Size.......................................................................131 5.8. Supervising and Managing for Results........................................................135 5.9. ICT in Teaching and Learning...........................................................................137 5.10. Quality of Teaching and Learning...................................................................138 5.11. Policy Implications..................................................................................................139

Chapter 6.

Relevance........................................................................... 145 6.1. The Challenge of Post-basic Education........................................................147 6.2. The Supply Side: Products of the Education System.............................149 6.3. The Demand Side: Labor Market Requirements....................................157 6.4. Balancing Supply and Demand........................................................................160 6.5. The Labor Market Prospects...........................................................................165 6.6. Policy Implications..................................................................................................167

Chapter 7.

Costs and Financing............................................................. 177 7.1. The Education Budget: Overview.....................................................................179 7.2. Unit Costs..................................................................................................................183 7.3. Composition of Recurrent Expenditures.....................................................186 7.4. Investment Expenditures....................................................................................193 7.5. Sources of Financing............................................................................................195 7.6. Policy Implications..................................................................................................197

Chapter 8.

Governance and Management............................................... 205 8.1. Policy Development and Planning...................................................................207 8.2. System Management...........................................................................................214 8.3. Policy Implications..................................................................................................217

Contents

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Chapter 9.

The Way Forward................................................................ 227

9.1. Factors Contributing to the Quality and Relevance Challenge.........232 9.2. The Way Forward..................................................................................................233 9.3. Management and Financial Implications....................................................237 9.4 . Improving the Quality of Education in Oman:

A Review of Policy Recommendations.........................................................240

Appendices

Appendix A. Appendix B. Appendix C. Appendix D.

Appendix E. Appendix F. Appendix G. Appendix H.

Appendix I. Appendix J.

Appendix K.

Appendix L.

Appendix M.

Appendix N. Appendix O. Appendix P.

Appendix Q.

Appendix R.

Appendix S. Appendix T. Appendix U. Appendix V.

Economic Data............................................................................................. 251 The Organization of the Ministry of Education..............................253 Education For All Goals............................................................................254 International Comparison of Gross Enrollment Ratios....................................................................................... 255 Preschool Education in Oman 2008/09.......................................256 Grade 1 Teacher Ratings.......................................................................257 Number of Courses Taken in Selected Countries.......................258 Some Limitations of the Current Examination System............................................................................................................. 259 Ensuring the Credibility of the Examination System...................260 Using National Assessment Results for Regional Comparisons................................................................................................. 261 Australian School Report: National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN), Year 5, 2009................................................................................................ 262 Supporting Research and Evaluation of Public Examination..................................................................................... 264 Country Examples of Using Objective Information from National Assessments to Improve Curriculum.................265 Examples of Research and Evaluation Centers............................266 Teachers and Quality of Education.....................................................268 Description of the Vocational Training and Technical Education System..................................................................273 Distribution of Higher Education Graduates by Fields of Study............................................................................................... 275 Labor Markets: Activity Rates and Labor Productivity.................................................................................................... 276 Educational Level of the Labor Force................................................278 University International Rankings........................................................279 Job Seekers' Expectations.....................................................................281 Metacognitive Skills................................................................................... 282

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Education in Oman The Drive for Quality

Appendix W. Appendix X. Appendix Y. Appendix Z.

Appendix AA. Appendix AB.

Appendix AC.

Appendix AD. Appendix AE.

Cost of Graduation..................................................................................... 283 Staff Ratios by Region...............................................................................284 Distribution of Civil Service Employees by Grade.........................285 Share of Selected Expenditure Items inTotal Household Budget by Education Status of Household Head.........................286 A Governance of Education Framework..........................................287 The National Education Commission (NEC) of Sri Lanka.................................................................................................... 289 A Framework for Education Policy Development and Implementation............................................................................................ 290 School-based Management...................................................................292 Frameworks for Strategic Planning and Business Process Management..............................................................................294

References................................................................................................................ 297

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Ac k n o w l e d g m e n t s

This report reflects the results of many months of collaboration between the Oman Ministry of Education (MOE) and the World Bank with assistance from many stakeholders.

The Omani Study Team was led initially by H.E. Dr. Madiha Al-Shaibani, Minister of Education (formerly Secretary General, Oman National Commission for Education, Culture and Science) and then by Dr. Ahmed Mohammed Al-Hinai (Advisor to the Minister), H.E. Yahya bin Saud bin Mansoor Al-Sulaimi (former Minister of Education) and Dr. Muna bin Salim Al-Jardania (former Undersecretary for Education and Curriculum) provided leadership and valuable input to this study. The Omani Study Team included Dr. Maryam Al-Nabhani (Deputy Director of the Technical Office for Studies and Development) the head of the technical team of the study, Dr. Amal Al-Busaidi (former DG of Curriculum Development), Dr. Zuwaina Al-Maskari (DG of Educational Evaluation), Dr. Sana Al-Balushi (DG of the National Career Guidance Centre), Yahya Al-Harthi (DG of Human Resources Development), Dr. Masooma Al-Ajmi (Expert/Minister's Office), Aqeel Al-Lawati (Ministry of National Economy [MONE]), Fatma Noorani (DG of Private Schools), Waleed Al-Hashmi (Director of Quality Control), Dr. Rashid Al-Hajri and David Griffiths (Experts, the Technical Office for Studies and Development), Tahira Al-Lawati (Director of Statistics), Maryam Al-Riyami (Director of Planning), Intisar Ambusaidi (Director of Educational Supervision), Abduljaleel Al-Manthari (Director of Budget), Majid Al-Abri (Deputy Director of Current Budget), Asma Al-Balushi (Curriculum Development), Ahmed Al-Hinai (Educational Evaluation), Salim Al-Harthi (Educational Evaluation), Sultan Al-Wadhahi (Deputy Director for Archive Management and E-services), Rabab Al-Lawati ( Director of Educational Programmes for Private Schools), and Abudulla Al-Ruhaili (Oman National Commission for Education, Culture and Science).

The World Bank team was led by Lianqin Wang (Task Team Leader, Senior Education Specialist) and included Vincent Greaney (Education Assessment Specialist), Laura Gregory (Education Specialist), Hiromichi Katayama (Education Specialist), Sam Mikhail (Education Specialist), Benoit Millot (Education Economist), and Aidan Mulkeen (Teacher Education Specialist). Guidance was provided by Farrukh Iqbal (Country Director), Mourad Ezzine (Education Sector Manager), and Marcos Ghattas (Program Manager, Reimbursable Technical Cooperation). Ms. Larisa Marquez (Operations Analyst) and Ms. Hida Haddad (Senior Executive Assistant) provided substantial operations support.

World Bank peer reviewers for the draft report were Harsha Aturupane (Lead Education Specialist), Nathalie Lahire (Senior Education Economist), and Jee-Peng Tan (Education Adviser). Peer reviewers at the Concept Note stage were Robert Prouty (Head of Education Fast Track Initiative), Harsha Aturupane, and Juan Manuel Moreno (Senior Education Specialist). Many officials and technical staff from Oman's education system participated in the focus group discussion and surveys related to this study.

Support was also provided by MOE officials and staff, including H.E. Dr. Saod Al-Belushi (Undersecretary for Planning and Human Resources), Hana Al-Ghasani (School Performance Development), Salim Al-Habsi (Oman National Commission for Education, Culture and Science), Mahfoodha Al-Wahaibi (Statistics Department), Azza Al-Harthi, (Educational Evaluation Department), and Hunaina Al-Barwani (National Career Guidance Centre). Special thanks go to Fatma Al-Hinai (Senior International Relations Expert, Oman National Commission for Education, Culture and Science) for the coordination of mission activities. This report was edited by Barbara Catherwood.

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