The government-run schools for physically challenged Omanis give importance to vocational training so that they can easily get employment, according to a senior official at the Education Ministry.

"We have classes up to 10th grade at the Al Amal School for the Deaf and we give a lot of importance to vocational education," Suad Bint Mubarak Al Fori, Special Education Supervisor at the Education Ministry, told Gulf News.

Al Fori said at the moment 248 pupils, including 86 girls, were being taught at the school that was set up in 1981. It moved to its current premises in 1996.

The school offers hostel facilities only for boys, thus a lot of girls from outside Muscat do not come to study at the school.

Therefore, she added, that majority of the Omani deaf studying in Kuwait were girls.

"They have hostel facilities for girls so we recommend more girls to that school from here."

Currently, 48 deaf Omani students are studying in Kuwait. "Every year we send students to Kuwait and the number depends on the application here and availability of seats in Kuwait," she pointed out.

Al Fori also revealed that a plan to impart further education to the deaf was certainly underway.

"We cannot give a timeframe but it is under consideration to introduce education after tenth gradefor the deaf with more vocational training," she said.

She said the ministry was training Omani teachers to gradually replace the expatriate staff at the Al Amal School for the Deaf.

"We have been sending Omani teachers for regular training and currently we have 18 Omani teachers out of a total teaching staff of 60," she said.

She said the Eduction Ministry also runs Omar Bin Al Khatib Institute for the Blind in Al Khodh. "The institute was set up in 2000 with financial help from businessman Soud Bahwan," she said.

The school, according to an activist, is being under-utilised as people were still not aware about the need to send their blind children to a specialised school.

There were 17,000 blind citizens in Oman as per an estimate in 2000.

According to the 1993 Census, 32,500 Omanis had a physical disability. No figures were released after the 2003 Census. The President of the Oman Association for Disabled believes there could be up to 90,000 disabled people in Oman.

The Education Ministry runs two schools for the physically challenged and one for the mentally challenged.