Sohar university founders praised
The government, which is offering increasing incentives to the private sector to promote higher education in order to meet the growing demand of students and parents, has praised the founders of Sohar University to set it rolling this year.
The government, which is offering increasing incentives to the private sector to promote higher education in order to meet the growing demand of students and parents, has praised the founders of Sohar University to set it rolling this year.
The Higher Education Council, holding its second meeting of the year under the chairmanship of Sayyid Saif bin Hamad bin Saud Al Busaidi, Minister of the Diwan of the Royal Court, expressed satisfaction over the pace of progress being made by the private sector to spread higher education in the country to meet the challenges of the new millennium.
The council praised the steps taken by the founders of Sohar University to start the academic year in 2001-02, said an official statement. Sohar, Oman's ancient trading town on the Batinah coast which provided sailors a link to China in the olden days, has become the Sultanate's second largest industrial estate after Muscat. A new airport is in the offing while the port is being developed.
The council gave the go ahead for another private university to be opened in Sur, an old fishing town also known for dhow making, which has since grown in importance for the $2 billion liquefied natural gas plant.
The state-run Sultan Qaboos University is the only university in the country offering higher education and is obviously unable to meet the growing demand. A private university will also serve the interests of expatriates who ordinarily leave the country after higher secondary education.
Ever since the education sector was privatised some years ago, many colleges have sprung up. In an another major step, the council upgraded the Muscat Industrial Technical College (MITC), enabling it to issue B.Sc degrees instead of certificates at the end of the course.
MITC, which is run by the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Vocational Training, has become the most important nursery for the government to promote Omanisation , a campaign to provide citizens with jobs in place of expatriates.
The council also discussed proposals to establish the Academic Accreditation Council and the National Centre for Job Orientation in addition to a number of plans forwarded by the Higher Education Ministry and a report on the International Conference on the 21st Century University hosted by Oman recently.
