Making education mandatory for all
Even as education is a universally acknowledged fundamental human right, only a committed and visionary leadership can ensure that all young people join the learning system in a country. This is because getting all children in schools requires alignment across families, educators and policymakers.
The basic purpose of education is to improve the human condition. Proper education can lead to a longer and better life, a higher income and a better society. After all, access to education is the cornerstone of economic and social growth.
When education suffers, many other dimensions of society suffer.
The Sultanate of Oman’s government places utmost emphasis on education, in view of its role in developing human resources and providing them with the necessary knowledge and skills which represent key inputs to the economic, social and environmental development process desired by the country.
So is Oman’s new education law that establishes a legislative and regulatory structure to guarantee that education reaches all young children in the country. Although the law has many features, the main highlight is that basic education has been made compulsory for all children who reach the age of six.
The law stipulates that the parent or guardian should enrol the child in the first grade of the basic education stage during the specified date for admission. The guardian should also follow up on his regularity in the study until the completion of this stage.
The new law stems from His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik’s conviction on the importance of developing the educational system and improving its standards to keep pace with global educational developments.
The Royal gesture reflects the development that the educational system and the learning process have witnessed during the past decades.
The government considers education as the key to all dimensions of development. It believes that providing quality education for all is fundamental to creating a peaceful and prosperous nation in particular and the world in general.
Education in Oman is a right for all guaranteed by the Basic Statute of the State, and gender equality and quality education are among the fundamental guiding principles in educational work.
Therefore, the Omani leadership has devoted considerable attention to educational standards and quality in order to enhance the efficiency of human resources and enable them to contribute to national development.
Since the beginning of the Sultanate’s Renaissance, educational plans were directed towards the spread and universalisation of education, as well as its improvement in line with Oman’s five-year development plans.
Oman attached great importance to early childhood development across sectors including developmental, social, health, education, cultural, and other aspects, as it strongly believes in the importance of investing in this segment of society.
National plans, policies and strategies were formulated to improve the quality of services provided in this field. And in view of the importance of providing children with quality early childhood development and care, laws and legislations were enacted to encourage the establishment of childupbringing institutions.
With the aim of providing equal opportunities for all, Oman applies the adult education system which runs parallel to the formal education system from Grade 7 to Grade 12 and targets learners liberated from illiteracy or persons who completed Grade 6 in formal education and then dropped out of school for various reasons, provided that their age exceeds the legal age for formal schooling.
Statistics issued in September 2022 by the state-run National Centre for Statistics and Information showed that the literacy rate in the age group over 10 years stood at 97.26 per cent while the literacy rate in the age group 15 years and over was 97 per cent and the literacy rate in the age group from 15 to 45 years is 99.59 per cent.
The writer is a senior journalist and author with nearly four decades of experience in broadsheet newspapers and magazines in India and the Gulf region
OMAN’S GOVERNMENT PLACES UTMOST EMPHASIS ON EDUCATION, IN VIEW OF ITS ROLE IN DEVELOPING HUMAN RESOURCES AND PROVIDING THEM WITH THE NECESSARY KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS