Ain-Al-Yaqeen - January 20, 2006

		January 20, 2006

CONTINUOUS ACHIEVEMENTS IN THE FIELD OF EDUCATION IN THE SULTANATE OF OMAN.
HIGHER EDUCATION PLAYS A VITAL ROLE IN HUMAN DEVELOPMENT.
THE INCREASE OF SERVICES IN THE FIELDS OF SOCIAL AND HEALTH CARE, HOUSING, ELECTRICITY PROJECTS, WATER, TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATIONS.

Education has been a major government priority since 1970. In recent years the Basic Education system has been introduced and improvements made to the syllabi at all levels so that they are linked to the demands of the labour market, and thereby enabling society to keep pace with modern developments in the world at large.

The rapid progress achieved in education by the Sultanate is reflected in reports by international organisations.

Official figures for the 2003/04 school year record 576,472 students in government schools - 297,292 boys and 279,180 girls. There are 1,022 schools - 366 boys' schools, 355 girls' schools and 301 mixed schools.

There are a further 23,553 students in the Sultanate's 129 private schools - 13,240 boys and 10,313 girls. There are also 3 schools for those with special needs and a number of schools for the children of foreigners working in the Sultanate. They all come under the auspices of the government. Introduction of ICDL

The International Computer Driving Licence (ICDL) will be adopted in the Sultanate for upgrading the computer skills of, initially, the llth grade students in all government schools from the 2004/05 school year.

In 1994 the Ministry of Higher Education was established by Royal Decree 2/94 in order to implement educational and research plans and programmes offered by institutes of higher education under its supervision. In 1996 the private sector was invited to contribute to the higher education programme in Royal Decree 41/96. In accordance with this Decree 14 private colleges and four private universities are now operating in the Sultanate.

Ominsation in Educational Colleges As of 1 January 2003, the total number of staff working in the Educational Colleges was 1,051 of whom the number of faculty staff was 633, including 94 Omanis (approximately 14.8% of the total). Academic support staff numbered 213 of whom 205 were Omanis (96.2% of the total) and eight (3.8%) were expatriates. Meanwhile, administrative staff were 100% Omani. The number of Ministry of Higher Education staff on scholarships for higher degrees (Masters and Ph.Ds) is around 37 with a further 12 expected to go abroad for the same purpose in 2004 and 2005.

An important factor in establishing the Law College was the need to diversify the provision of Higher Education so as to absorb the increasing number of secondary school graduates. A further consideration was the Sultanate's demand for specialists in the field of Law necessitated by the re-organisation of the judiciary and the extension of its competencies, as well as ancillary posts in the Public Prosecutor's Office, clerks of the courts, lawyers and the like.

Agreement made additional demands for legal and judicial specialists in all fields and to this end the Law College was created in accordance with Royal Decree 26/1997.

In the academic year 2003/2004 the College's intake was increased to 175 students (from a previous total of 120) in line with the provisions of the sixth Five-Year Plan.

Sultan Qaboos University was established in 1986 and, since its health service inception 17 years ago, has become known as a centre of academic excellence.

Sultan Qaboos University comprises seven colleges: Arts and Social Sciences, Commerce and Industry, Education, Science, Agricultural and Marine Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and Health Sciences. While 557 students were admitted in the university's inaugural year, the number admitted for the academic year 2003/4 on Bachelors, Masters and Diploma programmes totaled 3,105.

The number of students graduating from these programmes in the academic year 2002/3 was 2,352 and the total number of students currently enrolled at the University for the academic year 2003/4 is 12,385. This increase in student numbers has been accompanied by a corresponding increase in the quality and professional competence of its graduates.

The Social Security Law promulgated by Royal Decree No. 72/91, came into force with effect from 1st July 1992. One of its articles stipulated that a government body should be formed under the name of the Public Authority for Social Insurance, to provide protection for Omanis employed in the private sector who are facing financial difficulties as a result of disease, disability or old age.

Al Wafa Voluntary Social Centres are part of an integrated government project inspired by a philosophy of community-based rehabilitation. They are designed to provide handicapped children with welfare services close to home. At the end of 2003, 19 such centres staffed by 305 female volunteers were providing services for some 1,604 children with various types of disabilities, including 810 boys and 794 girls.

Centre for the Care and Rehabilitation of the Disabled The Centre for the Care and Rehabilitation of the Disabled, founded in 1987 is one of the leading centres specialised in providing the disabled with rehabilitation services, education and vocational training. Its main function is to provide the disabled with the vocational knowledge and skills that will enable them to earn a livelihood and serve their community.

Hospitals, polyclinics and health centres have been opened in all regions and equipped with cutting edge health technology. By the end of 2003 there were 49 hospitals with 4,501 beds, as well as 119 health centres and 10 polyclinics.

The referral hospitals providing secondary health care services are equipped to deal with more complex medical problems and specialist staff offer high levels of skill in a range of disciplines.

In 2000 the World Health organisation (WHO) placed the Sultanate 1st in the "Overall Level of Health Care" and 8th at World level for "Overall System Performance" .

Oman's primary vaccine store became the 1st in the world to meet the new WHO/UNICEF criteria of Effective Vaccine Store Management (EVSM) and was awarded a certificate in 2004 covering the period October 2002-September 2003. The EVSM initiative sets international standards and covers all aspects to fully protect vaccines from procurement to use.

In 2003, 99% of the target group were immunised against polio, diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough and 98% were immunised against measles.

The Royal Hospital in Muscat is one of the Sultanate's specialist referral hospitals, and November 2004 saw the opening of its Oncology Centre where all types of cancer cases, including those needing radiotherapy will be treated with two linear accelerators, a brachy therapy system, a CT scanner and a dedicated operating theatre. Health care

Before 1970 no more than 100 people were employed in the health sector and only 13 of those were doctors. However, by the end of 2003 the Ministry of Health had a staff of 18,579 including 2,635 doctors and 7,340 male and female nurses. Omanis accounted for 61% of the total workforce. The 500-bed Sultan Qaboos University Hospital is one of the Sultanate's leading health care facilities. Its mission is to provide high-quality health care, as well as provision of general medical services to the community at large, and to train medical and allied health sciences students from the College of Medicine and Health Sciences which was established in 1987.

From 1998 to 2003, 459 Omanis have graduated from the Health Institutes' post basic courses, of which 144 were in Health Management, 115 in Renal Dialysis, 85 in Midwifery, 74 in Intensive Care, 25 in Physiotherapy and 16 in Health Education, all of which contributes to the Omanisation of the health sector.

Oman has launched medium- (five-year) and long-term (ten-year) plans to develop the Sultanate's regions, provide services to outlying villages and limit migration to the major cities.

Oman operates three social housing programmes, each targeting different income groups. The social housing programme aims to provide homes that suit their local areas, for average-sized Omani families.

Housing loans are an alternative source of finance for Omanis on limited incomes. One of the weaknesses of the social housing programme was that citizens who moved from their communities lost their links with their villages, communities and sources of income.

In 1999 the General Telecommunications Company (GTO) was converted into a closed Omani Government-owned joint-stock company and renamed Oman Telecommunications Company (Omantel). The Company, in moving towards privatisation, aims to create a strong telecommunications infrastructure to support the country's economic development and is training and employing high calibre nationals. It offers a full range of facilities such as fixed telephone, fax, mobile/GSM, Internet and other high technology services, and is currently expanding its transmission network in the regions. Omantel also provides a Toll Free service beginning with the number 800 to promote a more active relationship between local establishments and customers. In 2002 the service had fifty subscribers.

RO 282 million has been allocated for development, with projects worth RO 82 million completed in 2002. A new billing system costing over RO 5 million combines mobile/GSM and fixed telephone billing in a single integrated system. Subscriber service centres are being updated and new ones set up. At the beginning of 2003 the Company reduced its international call charges by as much as 31% in a move to benefit both individuals and commercial establishments and to help promote trade. The new tariffs were fixed in co-operation with other nations.

Aproximately RO 42 million was allocated for expanding the GSM telephone services, including the installation of new exchanges in Ibra and Muscat and the introduction of additional services such as GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) and MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service). By the end of 2002 Omantel had nearly half a million subscribers for mobile services, and has recently installed over 166 stations to extend the GSM service to new areas, including the Firq-Thumrait road and the oil fields. Several intensification stations have been launched in rural villages in order to provide maximum coverage. New GSM international roaming agreements have been signed with companies in 54 countries, bringing the total number of roaming agreements to 89.

Omantel has allocated around RO 18 million for the expansion of its fixed communications services and the installation of new exchanges in various parts of the country to help improve performance of the SDH (Synchronous Digital Hierarchy) advanced digital network. Several other projects are proposed for the near future.

Over RO 6 million has been allocated for the expansion of Internet services and the introduction of new features such as remote learning, video conferencing and long-distance medicine. The prepaid Internet card, Al Ufuq, allows access to the Internet without subscription through the number 1314. This service was introduced early in 2003 together with the Hayyak Short Messaging Service.

With effect from this year, Omantel has introduced an Internet roaming service that will enable Oman's 48,000-plus Internet subscribers to surf the Net from any location. This follows the signing of an agreement granting roaming facilities to Omani Internet users in over 120 countries. Omantel offers a domain name registration service via the Oman Network Information Center web site (http://www.omnic.om).

Smart-card-operated public telephones continue to be installed. By the end of 2002 6,338 digital public telephones had been installed in residential and commercial areas, educational and health institutions, airports, hotels and filling stations. It has also updated the temporary mobile public telephones that are installed for special occasions. In 1995 the Company set up a special section for telephone card collectors and began issuing commemorative cards.

The Sultanate is considered one of the first countries which developed a national plan to protect its water wealth. This plan was build on a scientific bases driving at conservation of this vital resource, as well as rationalization and good management depending on the Sultanate's data and statistics on water resources and use of the results of wells and aflaj inventory and studies as well. In addition to the monitoring carried out by the ministry. The issue of some laws and regulations has contributed to the enhancement of the objectives of this plan, and this includes Royal Decree No. (29/2000) concerning the Law on the Protection of Water Wealth and Royal Decree No. (115/2001) concerning the Law on Protection of Sources of Drinking Water from Pollution.

The Oman National Transport Company was established in 1972 to provide transport for schoolchildren in the Governorate of Muscat. In July 1974 it was relaunched with the right to operate public transport services to every part of the Sultanate.

In 1975 the company opened new routes and signed agreements and long-term contracts with various government organisations and authorities as well as international companies operating in the Sultanate. In 1976 long-distance routes were introduced between the Governorate of Muscat, the Governorate of Dhofar and the Dakhiliyah, Sharqiyah, Dhahirah and Batinah regions.

In 1989 the company ONTC began operating international routes to the emirates of Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the UAE, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during the Hajj and Umrah seasons and the Syrian Arab Republic during the holiday seasons. During the first half of 2003 the company began operating a new fleet of buses with the highest standards of comfort and is aiming for privatization by the end of 2004.

Privately-owned coach operators also provide services between Muscat and Salalah, and to the United Arab Emirates.

In addition, 15-seater mini buses ply the routes between the main towns, and orange/white saloon taxis are to be seen everywhere. There are also several private taxi services.

Oman has two International Airports, in Muscat and Salalah, as well as airports on Masirah Island and in Khasab.

Seeb International Airport is situated 40 kms west of Muscat and Salalah International Airport is situated in the southern region of Dhofar. On 2lst January 2002, management of these airports was privatized. Under a 25-year concession agreement, Oman Airports Management Company SAOC (OAMC) was established to manage and develop these airports with a view to them becoming premier gateways for the Middle East. OAMC is a private joint stock company whose shareholders are Capital Aviation Services llc, the Government of Oman and Oman Aviation Services SAOG.

Some RO100 million is to be spent over 20 years with the key period coming in five to six years' time.

Over the past year there were 2,181,594 international passengers (including transit passengers), and 173,887 domestic passengers using Seeb airport.

An agreement has also recently been signed for the modernization of air navigation systems at Seeb and Salalah airports, in line with a key recommendation of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) requiring large airports to install satellite-based navigation systems.

In 2002, Oman 's installed capacity was estimated at 2.4 gigawatts (GW). With the exception of some very remote villages, the entire country is electrified.

Oman faces growing demand for electricity due to population growth, industrialization, and rising incomes. Consumption is now increasing by 4-5% a year, and the government forecasts that electricity demand will be 75% higher in 2015 than it is today. To meet this challenge, Oman has allowed the private sector to take on a growing role. The Ministry of Electricity and Water (MEW) continues to play a role as a regulator. The MEW also remains responsible for distribution. In July 2003, the MEW announced that it was setting up a new company, the Transmission and Distribution Company (TRANSCO), that would oversee the generation and supply of electricity in the country. It also announced that it would be selling 65% of the new firm to private investors.

There have been several notable privatizations. The 1996 sale of a 90-MW power station in Al-Manah to Trachtebel produced the region's first independent power project (IPP). In 2001, a deal to sell a 200-MW plant in Salalah to Dhofar Power Consortium (DPC) went through. It was the first deal in the region to cover generation, transmission, distribution, billing and collection. As part of the contract, DPC is to improve the generation and distribution facilities.

Oman has also agreed to the establishment of a number of new IPPs. In 2000, it agreed to plans to build the 280-MW al-Kamil power plant at al-Sharqiya. The 430-MW Barka power and desalination plant is expected to begin operating by the end of 2003. Both the Barka and al-Kamil plants are to run on natural gas. All three of the DPC, Barka, and al-Kamil were commissioned in 2003.

In addition, Public Services Enterprise Group (PSEG) completed work on a 200-MW integrated power facility in May 2004, which supplies the Dhofar region. A 140-MW plant in Qarn Alam was completed in mid-2004.