In order to achieve the goal of EFA, a prima facie condition is that schools exist that are accessible to every school-age child in every part of the country. The provision of schools, however, is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for achieving the objective of universal primary education. Despite the existence of schools accessible to every child, there is no guarantee that all school-age children will attend schools.

The Ministry of Education in the Sultanate of Oman has opened primary and preparatory schools in every part of the country, and further guaranteed access by providing free transport from home to school and back for every child wherever required. Over and above this, the Government distributes free textbooks and learning materials to every pupil. The Ministry of Health medically examines every pupil who enters Grade 1, Grade 7 or Grade 10, covering every student regardless of sex in every school, whether public or private. All this effort, however, cannot guarantee that all school-age children are receiving formal education, or even that they enter the first grade.

The Apparent Intake Rate (AIR): (Indicator 3) is the total number of new entrants of all ages to primary Grade 1 as a percentage of the official entry age population (in Oman, 6 years old). It can give quite a good idea of the capacity of the national education system to accommodate the entire primary school entry age population (6 years old) in a given year.

The Net Intake Rate (NIR): (Indicator 4) to Grade 1 is the percentage of the 6-year old population (the official entry age to Grade 1) entering Grade 1. It presents a clearer picture of the situation by showing what percentage of the official entry age children have actually entered Grade 1.

While the gross enrolment rate gives a better idea of the holding capacity of the education system, which reflects the Government’s effort to make provisions for universal access, the net enrolment rate reflects people’s growing realization of the importance of sending children to school as soon as they become eligible to enter Grade 1. The net enrolment rate is a measure of the ideal conditions, and tells us how far or how near we are from the ideal goal of each and every child entering school at the right age.

The gross and net enrolment rates, in a sense, provide complementary information, and when used together they can produce useful information about the strengths and weaknesses of a system, and can point to the sources of the weakness too. For instance, the difference between the GER and NER can lead us to the percentage of under-age and over-age children in Grade 1, and provide useful information about family, community and school practices, and attitudes towards children’s education.

Table PR1 presents the number of new entrants, both Omani and non-Omani, in Grade 1 of both public and private schools, and the Apparent Intake Rate (AIR) and Net Intake Rate (NIR) of the 6-year old Omani population at national level for the academic year 1997/98.

1997/98

From Table PR1, we can see that the total number of children of any age who entered Grade 1 in 1997/98 accounts for 93.82% of the 6-year old population of the country. The apparent intake rate is the same as the gross intake rate.

The gross intake rate is 94.4% for boys and 93.2% for girls. The gender parity index for both AIR and NIR is 1.0. Of the 50,254 new entrants to Grade 1, 40,161 – about 80% – are of the official entrance age (6 years old), whereas 3,729 (7%) are over 6 years of age, and a substantial number – 6,364 (13%) – are under-age (below 6 years old). Because of the over-age and under-age children entering Grade 1, the apparent or gross intake rate becomes inflated and masks the real picture, which is revealed by the net intake rate.

The total net intake rate (male + female) is about 75% – 75.2% for boys and 74.74% for girls. The gender parity index of 1.0 evidently proves that there is no discrimination whatsoever against female children in entry to primary Grade 1.

As stated before, the Sultanate provides free basic education for all children enrolled in the public school system of the country. Textbooks and learning materials are also given free of charge to all students. In addition to this, the MOE provides free transportation to and from school to all commuters who require it. The primary stage, which is included in basic education, comprises the first six classes (Grades 1–6), covering ages 6–11. The statutory minimum age for entry to Grade 1 is age 6. In practice, however, the entry age for Grade 1 ranges from 5–8 years. The statistics presented here are based upon the Omani population and Omani students enrolled in both public and private mainstream schools. The GER and NER presented elsewhere in this report are based upon both Omani and non-Omani enrolments, and are therefore 2.5 points higher than these.

The gross enrolment ratio refers to the percentage of students of all ages (under-age, correct age, over-age) in all primary Grades (1–6) of the population aged 6–11. Due to various factors, the age range of primary students varies widely. For instance, in 1997/98 the age of Grade 1 pupils ranged from 5 to 11.

This phenomenon can be attributed to the following reasons, which are common to all regions:

It is the percentage of over-age and under-age students in the system that creates the difference between the net and gross enrolment ratios. In 1997/98, the primary GER for both male and female students combined was 97.5% – 100% for male students and 94.8% for female students. The GER computed on both Omani and non-Omani enrolment is 100% for all students (male + female), 102.6% for males, and 97.3% for females. The gender parity index for the female and male gross enrolment ratios was 0.95. This means that there were 100 male students of all ages enrolled in the primary cycle per 100 primary-age male children in the population, while there were only 95 female students of all ages enrolled per 100 primary-age female children in the population. In other words, the female GER was 95% of that of the male GER.

Because of the non-availability of expatriate population estimates by age, the statistics reported here are based upon Omani student enrolments in mainstream public and private schools.

While the gross enrolment rate for the total number of students irrespective of gender was 97.5%, the net enrolment rate was 85.5% (86.4% male and 84.6% female). This means that 12% of the primary students were out of the primary age range of 6–11 years, the majority of them over-age rather than under-age. Part of the over-age phenomenon could be an artifact caused by admission practice that a child whose age is 15 days less than 6 years will have to wait another year to be admitted to grade 1.

The Net Enrolment Ratio, however, is a reliable barometer of the access of the education system to the school-age population. It is clear that only 85.5% of the primary-age children were enrolled in primary schools, while most of the remaining 14.5% were out of school. Some of them, however, must have been enrolled in KGs, some in preparatory classes, and some in special schools.

The Primary Net Enrolment Ratio as reported in other places in this document, was computed on both Omani and non-Omani enrolments aggregated together, and is 88.1% (89.1% for males and 87.1% for females), approximately 2.5% higher than that of the 85.5% for Omanis only.

The difference between the male and female NERs is negligible. The gender parity index of 1.0 shows that there was no difference between the percentages of correct age male and correct age female populations enrolled in the primary formal education system in 1997/98.

As stated earlier, the Sultanate of Oman attaches prime importance to human resources development. Striving for quality basic education for all is the keystone of the human resources development policy.

In the late 70s and 80s, when the education system was rapidly expanding, the current expenditure on primary education increased exponentially. By 1990/91, the gross primary enrolment had exceeded 100% and the net enrolment ratio had passed 80%, and the Government shifted its emphasis from quantitative expansion to qualitative improvement. In addition, since primary education growth had nearly reached its ceiling, there was not much room for the previous rate of expansion to continue. On the other hand, added emphasis was also placed on the expansion and development of secondary education, as well as vocational technical education. At the same time, the concern for enhancing cost-efficiency led to the development of optimal primary school sizes and optimal class sizes, which slowed down the increase in the number of teachers and other school staff whose salaries normally account for well over 90% of the current expenditure on primary education.

The interpretation of the data presented in Table PR2 (which is the same as Table 5: Indicators 7 and 8 given in EFA Assessment 2000, Technical Guidelines included in the Annex) needs explanation.

The portion of the value of the total national production of goods and services which a country spends on primary education indicates the relative importance attached to primary education by the country in a given year.

Column 7 of Table PR2 shows the percentage of the total public current expenditure spent on primary education from 1990 to 1997.

It can be seen that in the Sultanate of Oman nearly 46% to 32% of the total public current education expenditure has been consumed by primary education.

The ratio of current expenditure on primary education to the whole education sector has been decreasing steadily as the country approaches the goal of universal primary education and turns its attention to secondary, tertiary, and vocational education and training.

Secondary education and vocational education and training are given increasing attention in order to achieve the dual goal of reducing reliance on expatriate workforce, and developing the domestic human resources needed to realize the vision of a diversified, balanced Omani economy.

From 1990 to 1994, the Government expended 1.6% of the Gross Domestic Product on meeting the recurrent expenses of primary education alone. From 1995, as the Government embarked upon the comprehensive qualitative reform of general education with renewed emphasis on primary education as the foundation of all education, more funds were allocated to development expenditure, which also includes part of the current expenditure. Nevertheless, in 1997 the Government devoted 1.3% of the GDP to current expenditure on primary education. This is because having almost reached the goal of universal access, the growth of primary education and consequently its current expenditure has stabilized, while due to the brisk expansion of the preparatory stage (Grades 7–9), its current expenditure has substantially increased.

Per capita GDP is an index of the domestic production of wealth (including the value of all goods and services produced in a given year) expressed in per person units. It is the share of each person in the total national wealth produced in a year. The part of the per capita GDP spent by the Government in terms of current expenditure per student is yet another measure of the country’s fulfilment of its commitment to education for all. This information is given in Column 9 of Table PR2.

In 1993, the Government devoted 11.1% per capita GDP to current expenditure on each primary school student. The percentage declined slightly, but by a very small margin, over the next three years, until it reached 9.2% in 1996 and took an upward turn to reach 9.4% in 1997. These statistics are underestimates of the realities on the ground, because current public expenditure on primary education does not include the expenditure of the private sector on primary education, which is steadily increasing.

The Government has consistently dedicated a substantial share of the total national expenditure to the education sector, of which basic education forms the largest component. The following Table PR3 presents the percentage of total expenditure spent on education from 1990 to 1997.

It can be seen from Table PR3 that in 1990 the education sector shared 14.9% of the total national expenditure. Since then, its share has steadily increased every year, until in 1997 the education sector used 17.4% of the total national expenditure. This situation is explained in the paragraph which follows.

It is common knowledge that in the education sector, general education is the largest component. In the mid-90s, starting in 1992, the MOE started concentrating on improving school plants and constructing new school buildings. Table PR4 presents general education’s share in the total investment expenditure on education.

From the "% MOE/All Education" column in Table PR4, it is clear that the general education share ranges from 58.3% in 1996, the lowest, to 74.6% in 1994, the highest, with an annual average of 66.5%. The investment expenditure includes two sub-categories of expenditure: development expenditure, which is the bulk of the total, and capital expenditure. The development expenditure reflects the development priorities of the Government. MOE’s share of the investment expenditure as percentage of the total investment on all education dropped in 1996 and then increased in 1997 because the five year plan is usually approved during the second quarter of the first year but its implementation starts at the beginning of the second year. As a result of this sequence of activities the development expenditure is incurred in the second year of the plan - the year 1997, in this case.

Table PR5 presents the percentage of the total development expenditure spent on general education, vocational training and health. In 1997, the Government expended 38.7% of the total development expenditure on the development of the infrastructure, of which education is one of the 11 items, including: irrigation and water (1.2%), roads (6.0%), ports (2.7%), airports (0.2%), town planning and municipalities (3.4%), education (5.6%), vocational training (0.7%), health (3.8%), information, culture and religious services (0.9%), and government administration (13.1%) (MONE Stat. Year Book 1997, p.415)

Table PR5 shows that throughout the 90s, general education – of which basic education claims the largest share – has been consistently accorded high priority (its share of 5.6% in 1997 was exceeded only by the Govt. Admin and roads).

Since the onset of the 90s, the MOE has been deeply concerned with the quality of education. The Fourth Five-Year Plan focused on such issues as improving the condition of school buildings by constructing new schools, providing schools with essential facilities, producing more Omani teachers, and upgrading education level and quality of teachers. The Fifth Five-Year Plan envisages a radical reform of the entire general education system over a period of ten years.

This section of the report presents the relevant information pertaining to the qualitative aspect of primary education as it existed in the year 1997/98.

The minimum academic qualification required for teaching primary classes was a two-year Post-Secondary Diploma in Education or higher. Under the current educational reform the required qualification for primary teachers has been raised to a Bachelor’s Degree.

Despite the prescribed minimum level of educational qualification required for primary school teachers (Intermediate Teachers Training College Diploma), in the past, when primary education was expanding rapidly and facing an acute shortage of teachers, the Ministry of Education was compelled to appoint teachers with only secondary education qualifications, and in some cases even less than secondary during early seventies.

The required qualification for primary teachers (for all teachers in the general education system) has now been upgraded to the level of a first university degree in education or higher. Under the reform, the two-year teacher training colleges have been upgraded to offer a four-year degree programme in teacher education. They award a Bachelor’s degree in Education after successful completion of the programme.