Rules and Regulations

Every individual within the Sultanate's territory is entitled by law to have access to education. Oman commits to meet the quality education criteria and seeks continuously to plan and conduct educational projects that take into consideration the economic, social, scientific and technological development and then adapt these developments to its national educational philosophy, goals and policies.

Rules and Regulations:

? The Basic Statute of the State: Regulations regarding the organization and dissemination of education (cultural principles ? chapter 2 ? article 13) state that: education is one of the corner stones for the development of the country. The country strives to disseminate education among people, offer it for free, combat illiteracy and build schools, institutions, colleges and universities under the supervision of the government and in accordance with the law.

? Future Vision for Oman's Economy (Oman 2020): Disseminate, encourage and care for knowledge and education development by finding the appropriate environment, give priority to the basic education and enable it to everyone through an efficient system that provides opportunities for both citizens and residents.

School Infrastructure:

The increasing number of school age group within the population has encouraged the Ministry of Education (MOE) to build more and more schools. Today, the number of government schools has reached 1037 school (2011/2012). Those changes also urged the ministry to take several measures aimed at improving

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school buildings and educational services. Among these measures are the following:

? Eliminating double shift schools (Morning/ Evening): the number of schools following this system has been minimized to only 4.7% of total government schools ( 2011/2012).

? Replacing old buildings: the demolition process is done upon the approval of specialized committees.

? Bringing education to people: building schools for communities far away from existing schools while taking into account several considerations such as: the number of students in those communities and their ages, quality of roads leading to the exciting schools (paved / unpaved) and the status of those existing schools after building new schools to serve their current students.

? Allocation of separate buildings for separate cycles/levels: first cycle (grades 1 to 4), second cycle( grades 5 to 10) and third cycle (grades 11 and 12).

Regarding the building, the Ministry of Education provides all required in-school facilities including: classrooms, teachers rooms, management rooms (Principle, Principle assistant, School coordinator, social specialist, psychologist, school activities specialist, finance and administration coordinator, database expert), Multi-purpose hall, computer labs, science labs, learning resources center, vocational guidance office, activities rooms, health visitor room, server room, meeting hall, stores, canteen, playgrounds, toilets (for students, teachers and special needs students) and an assembly yard with a sunshade.

In terms of services, besides being free of charge, Oman government schools also offer free transportation for students, provide various in-class learning facilities according to curricula requirements, and supply the learning resource center with the required educational tools.

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Students per class (SPC) The maximum number of students per class in the first cycle of basic education (grades 1-4) is 30 students. It goes up to 35 students for the second and third cycles. The same arrangement was recently applied to general education schools as well, marking a change in the average number of students per class through the years, as it gradually dropped from 76.3% in 1970 to 33.4% in 1990 to 32.4% in 2000 and finally reached 26.4% in the current academic year (2011-2012). The following table displays the average class density according to the type of education and cycle in the academic year 2010/2011:

Type/ Grades or Cycles

SPC

Basic Education (grades 1-10)

28

General Education (grades 1-6)

24

General Education (grades 7-9)

24

Grades (10-12)

27

Moreover, General Education system is being gradually substituted with the Basic Education system. In the academic year 2010/2011, students enrolled in basic education system have reached 81.4% in comparison with students in the General education system who are only 18.6% of the total number of students, making basic education classes dominant by 80%.

Student/Teacher ratio The Ministry had gradually lowered the student/teacher ratio from 1970 until now by employing the growing qualified Omani cadres. The ratio has dropped down from 35.4% in 1970 to 23.5% in 1990 to 21.0% in 2000 to 11.9% in 2010/2011 then finally reached 10.0% in the current academic year 2011/2012. The table below displays the student/teacher ratio according to the educational type/grade in the academic year 2010/2011:

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Type/ Grades Basic Education (grades 1-10) General Education (grades 1-6) General Education (grades 7-9) Grades (10-12)

Student/Teacher ratio (%) 11 21 14 12

Teachers' academic qualifications

? The Ministry coordinates with both Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) and the

Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) to set the criteria of a qualified Omani

teacher. MOE also provides senior university students with in-school

training to further qualify them.

? When the Education development process started in Oman in 1970, there

was a demanding need to hire teachers as soon as possible. Therefore, in

1972 for example, 50% of the Omani teachers had less than high school

certificates and only 8% were university graduates. Today, however,

teachers with university degrees of bachelors, high diploma, masters and

doctorate have reached 88.3% and the remaining 11.7% carry a diploma

from the Teachers Training College (a two years diploma taken after high

school certificate). The table below displays the teachers distribution

according to their certificates ( 2010/2011):

Certificate Diploma after high schools certificate Bachelors High Diploma Masters Doctorate

Percentage 11.72

81.89 5.39 0.98 0.02

Total

100

? The Ministry has further qualified the teachers by encouraging them to obtain higher certificates. For instance, English teachers carrying a diploma

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from the Teachers Training College were given the opportunity to pursue higher university degrees in coordination with the University of Leeds in UK. ? Since 1997, the teachers are required by law to have a university certificate in the field of education or a university certificate plus education diploma.

Professional development for teachers

Professional development for employees in general and teachers in particular is essential in the educational process in Oman. The teachers' role is vital for they translate the philosophy and goals of MOE into reality through their knowledge, skills and educational experience.

Therefore, within the framework of the educational improvement process and the growing understanding of the importance of training and qualification enhancement, the ministry has established extensive training programs which aimed at all kinds of employees within the ministry. It also provided university level opportunities that ranged from bachelor degrees to PHDs both in and out of Oman.

To achieve the desired quality improvement, MOE will:

1. Enhance the efficiencies of the administrative and technical personnel in the education training centers in each governorate.

2. Provide education training centers in the governorates with professional academic and vocational human resources.

3. Equip the education training centers with the required modern materials and tools.

4. Benefit from local, Arab and international education experiences through forums and other training programs.

5. Promote professional development in education training centers and schools as well for schools are also considered centers for professional development

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