**6. Facing the challenges**

*Education Systems Around the World*

citizenship of the world, and global issues, as well as humanity, cultural diversity, instances, and context which make them value the contextual richness. The postbasic framework drew on three important frames in the hope that it reflects on the outcomes that embody the latter dispositions and include the theoretical knowl-

While the basic and post-basic education system of grade 11 and 12 began in 2007 and scaled to all public schools in Oman, it completed the transformation of all public schools. Couched within new educational philosophies, the Ministry dedicated a large part of its resources to train and retrain teachers and school staff on the curriculum and teacher training [25]. Today, the educational system is well under way and draws on those elements of continuous improvement, benchmarked along international standards allowing for involvement and awareness by the public.

The educational reform that took place in the 1970s, was not evaluated until 1994. The initiative involved a collaboration between the Ministry of Education and the Scottish Qualification Authority, and collaboration between their evaluation summed the educational conditions in Oman. The educational system was traditional, curricula were rather generalized, and education was content-centered as opposed to student centered. Schools and the Ministry lacked a clear vision and mission. Books were outdated, and the educational process was mainly driven by tests and centered around the dense curriculum [25]. Teachers also lacked the skills needed to transform schools into places of learning or made initiatives to face the challenges to advance the needs of the Sultanate of Oman. The initiative envisioned to produce high-quality graduates of general education geared toward skills in problem-solving, critical thinking, and analytical skills [26]. A later study came from the World Bank and the Ministry of Education with two main recommendations in their assessment: creating a culture of excellence and making and develop-

The leadership had also invested interest in education and made great strides in the improvement of quality of education for the development of high-quality human resources imputed by the Oman's economic future in vision 2020 [1]. The Vision 2020 of Oman was a landmark document and provided a frame to move the Omani economy forward. The document also served as a framework of the country's educational system. The Vision 2020 aimed to achieve the status of a "Newly Industrialized Economy,", lowering the disparities between Oman and Oil-rich countries in its surrounding. In vision 2020, Oman attempted to build a solid foundation for human resource development, to offset dependency on Oman's limited oil reserves. The blueprint document was both to move the educational strategy forward among Oman's other economic, social, and human resource developments. Through the Vision 2020, several educational recommendations were made to the Ministry of Education; among those suggestions was to create a basic education road map that can prepare students to continue their education or join the work force. Mainly the five-year plan between 1996–2000 focused on the development of human capacity [23]. Educational training was one of the key pillars through the improvement of the curriculum that focused on two main aspects. Firstly, the content of the curriculum and secondly, teaching methods. In terms of the curriculum and subject matter, the attempt was to reduce the theoretical parts and connect the material to lives of students and the real world. In addition, teachers were required to align the curriculum to student abilities at each educational phase. Teachers were to reduce the reliance on rote learning and memorization and move

edge, research, community service, and overall excellence.

**5. Review of the educational system**

ing strong pedagogical skills among teachers [27].

**82**

A major benchmark in Omani educational history was in 1997 right after the Vision 2020 publication; a clear agenda was put in place which outlined the strategic plan for the next two decades. Its main goals were to equip students with the technological, scientific, and advanced knowledge to move the country's educational system as well as its economic development along twenty-first century skills. The plan was to improve the educational system as a whole which included teacher qualifications, changing the way assessment was performed, closing the afternoon school system and lastly but not least, extending the school day and year.

Significant challenges were seen in how teachers undertook the classroom teaching. Many instructional practices have been pervasive and centered on the traditional rote methods, away from the more substantive and deep approaches to learning. In addition, the alignment of content, sequence, and teacher practices appeared to be unaligned to grade level. While faced with substantive barriers for the improvement of schools, the Ministry of Education has been unable to provide the required resources for the realization of the comprehensive initiatives to improve the quality of education of the required level. But initiatives for improvement has been widespread, this including the process of decentralization as a policy which provided administrative and financial autonomy, giving regional authorities jurisdiction in making administrative and budgetary decisions to state directories. The Ministry of Education lacked the capacity to provide training programs for Omani teachers and management of human resources. Added to the fact that a great number of teachers were migrating from the rural areas to urban areas, leaving many rural schools understaffed [2], it was also not easy to also distribute teachers to all areas and to keep a balance of teachers in rural and urban areas.

System wide changes appeared in the integration of content subject matter, which included the integration bundle subjects as Islamic Studies, Arabic and Social Studies and in another, Mathematics and Science. Each field had the same teacher who teaches the bundle subjects which insured to some extent the integration of the material. Other new subjects were introduced in the curriculum as information technology and environmental life skills. While curriculum changes were done gradually, the adaptation was done in stages. To allow for school staff to deal with the major changes to the curriculum methodology for basic education, the new system was first introduced to 17 schools in the 1998/1999 academic year and 25 schools the next academic year, having been delivered to all schools in 2006/2007. In addition,

the teaching of mathematics and science in English and teaching of English needed a major overhaul, which suggested these subjects to be more attuned to life and communication skills, public speaking, problem solving, and critical thinking [24].

Another significant change in the system has been the extension of the school year. Oman had one of the lowest numbers of school days when compared to some of the industrialized countries whose students had scored in the upper first quartile in the world on the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Further, many school graduates were challenged by English and had to repeat at least a year of English, mathematics, and information technology to be able to enroll into a regular university program. While several reasons have been attributed to the poor academic outcomes, it was believed that teaching days were lost due to examinations, special events, and other missed holidays. To keep in line with international norms, as an example, Japan (240 days) or Singapore (200 days), extending the school year meant that students would be more at task and would have better performance results. The Ministry decided to extend the school year to 180 days to bring it more into line with hours of schooling in other countries. The school-day increased to 8 periods per day and each period to 40 min per day, which resulted in an overall 60% increase in hours compared to the old system [2].

English was stressed and started to be taught from grade one of the first cycle. The Ministry also implemented a procedure for curriculum and new teaching approaches, for instance, the teaching of the mother tongue by integrating with other subjects as Islamic studies, geography, and history. It also attempted to adopt international curriculum in the first cycle to keep in par with international benchmarked curriculum. The Ministry of Education also started a comprehensive quality approach to the educational system including the education board (region) and schools. Such approaches included the data-driven performance measure which increased efficacy of decisions along administrative operations. Administratively, three major offices have been established and included the Directorate General of Human Resources Development and Curriculum Evaluation Department and the Directorate General of Planning and Quality Assurance Office all working to support one another in the process of deliberation and evaluation of programs and systems [3].

Other initiatives were made in the improvement of teaching quality, whereby a reconceptualization of the pedagogical approaches was made in the way teachers were asked to give feedback to students and change the way the assessments were applied in the teaching and learning process [28]. The reconceptualization of the pedagogical approaches shifted in the way school instruction could be a predictor of school success. Suggestions were also made in regard to how the assessments were taking place in class. Teachers drew on new concepts of continuous assessment where students could be given continuous feedback in ways to overcome the challenges and provide teachers an understanding of where students could face difficulties in their lessons or concepts. Also, the Ministry of Education and the World Bank suggested that these assessments need also to identify male students to face most of the difficulties because many of them tended to discontinue and dropout from school.

In parallel to system and structural wide improvements made in schools and the Ministry, teacher practice was an important and significant element to the overall improvement of schooling. The preparation institutes were established which gave qualification programs and the start of vocational, industrial, and agricultural schools. The creation of the National Center for Vocational Orientation allowed a different qualification and tracks; it made it permissible for parents to enroll their children and tell parents about available educational and training opportunities. The attempt was to establish a linkage of the general education, university education, and the job market. Within the Ministry of Education, the Department of Schools Performance Development was established for school administrators to

**85**

*Educational Reform in Oman: System and Structural Changes*

Education Directories moved to all out regions in Oman [27].

**7. The Ministry of Education restructuring**

educational purpose of their classes.

help them set strategies to reach their targets, apply their plans, and raise capacity among school staff. The department instated regulatory guidelines and policies, thus creating an accountable system for the schools. Another role taken by the latter department has been to train teachers in all facets of basic education. The training assured that basic education program effectively trained in the philosophy, methodology, and curriculum material of the basic education. At the center of the training was the Teacher Training Center in Muscat and later instituted in all the Ministry of

Teachers Institutes were the only organizations training teachers which later in 1970s became Colleges of Education and integrated in a larger university system, eventually offering a bachelor's degree. The Ministry of Education in fact established the Directory General for Evaluation and Development, and as part of the higher education development, Sultan Qaboos University was established in 1986 with five colleges were established. This included Education and Islamic studies, Agriculture, Sciences, Medicine, Engineering, and Humanities. In addition, there were a number of educational establishments to train in trade, technical, agricultural, and education teacher training, in addition to the Institute of Justice, Institute of Health Sciences, Institute of Finance, Professional Training Institute, Institute of Public Administration, Oman College of Industrial Arts, and Police and Internal Security Training Centers [20]. As with the Sultan Qaboos University, the Ministry of Education made an initiative by drawing upon practices of educational systems as that of the United Kingdom, United States of America, Canada, Australia, and Malaysia, taking into account Omani values and traditions. The intention was to build a citizen whose strong faith in God, loyalty to the nation, is disposed with intellectual, spiritual, emotional, and social qualities amicable with Oman's culture and tradition. Another step forward was the initiation of the National Forum on the Development of Secondary Education of grade 11–12 held in 2002; it linked closer higher education with the secondary education, and it was apparent with a global world moving to an age of connectedness. Thus, as social systems change all the artifacts around, human functioning and interconnectedness must also change. It is thus within those changes that Oman positioned itself in a global context [29].

The Ministry of Education in Oman had administrative and legal jurisdiction of all public schools from grade 1 to grade 12. The Ministry had gone through several restructuring initiatives, the most significant has been the impetus to decentralize the educational system and give autonomy to the directories in the different regions in Oman. The reform was also significant because it drew upon policies which allowed autonomy to the different directories (Ministry of Education Centers) around the country working within a total quality framework and implementing a new curriculum, student assessment, and pedagogical implementation. The directories which spread all over Oman were responsible for evaluating and assessing the educational planning, collecting data from students, teacher training, and the development of the educational sector as well as coordinating with other ministries to address student needs. The central offices in the different regions of Oman were mainly responsible for the implementation of policies established by the Ministry of Education. The different directories within the Ministry of Education also encouraged schools to take up new initiatives and proposals for the improvement of the educational system. The most striking change was to provide teacher autonomy to cover the curriculum with any content they may provide and see fit for the

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.84913*

#### *Educational Reform in Oman: System and Structural Changes DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.84913*

*Education Systems Around the World*

the teaching of mathematics and science in English and teaching of English needed a major overhaul, which suggested these subjects to be more attuned to life and communication skills, public speaking, problem solving, and critical thinking [24]. Another significant change in the system has been the extension of the school

year. Oman had one of the lowest numbers of school days when compared to some of the industrialized countries whose students had scored in the upper first quartile in the world on the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Further, many school graduates were challenged by English and had to repeat at least a year of English, mathematics, and information technology to be able to enroll into a regular university program. While several reasons have been attributed to the poor academic outcomes, it was believed that teaching days were lost due to examinations, special events, and other missed holidays. To keep in line with international norms, as an example, Japan (240 days) or Singapore (200 days), extending the school year meant that students would be more at task and would have better performance results. The Ministry decided to extend the school year to 180 days to bring it more into line with hours of schooling in other countries. The school-day increased to 8 periods per day and each period to 40 min per day, which

resulted in an overall 60% increase in hours compared to the old system [2].

process of deliberation and evaluation of programs and systems [3].

ties because many of them tended to discontinue and dropout from school.

In parallel to system and structural wide improvements made in schools and the Ministry, teacher practice was an important and significant element to the overall improvement of schooling. The preparation institutes were established which gave qualification programs and the start of vocational, industrial, and agricultural schools. The creation of the National Center for Vocational Orientation allowed a different qualification and tracks; it made it permissible for parents to enroll their children and tell parents about available educational and training opportunities. The attempt was to establish a linkage of the general education, university education, and the job market. Within the Ministry of Education, the Department of Schools Performance Development was established for school administrators to

English was stressed and started to be taught from grade one of the first cycle. The Ministry also implemented a procedure for curriculum and new teaching approaches, for instance, the teaching of the mother tongue by integrating with other subjects as Islamic studies, geography, and history. It also attempted to adopt international curriculum in the first cycle to keep in par with international benchmarked curriculum. The Ministry of Education also started a comprehensive quality approach to the educational system including the education board (region) and schools. Such approaches included the data-driven performance measure which increased efficacy of decisions along administrative operations. Administratively, three major offices have been established and included the Directorate General of Human Resources Development and Curriculum Evaluation Department and the Directorate General of Planning and Quality Assurance Office all working to support one another in the

Other initiatives were made in the improvement of teaching quality, whereby a reconceptualization of the pedagogical approaches was made in the way teachers were asked to give feedback to students and change the way the assessments were applied in the teaching and learning process [28]. The reconceptualization of the pedagogical approaches shifted in the way school instruction could be a predictor of school success. Suggestions were also made in regard to how the assessments were taking place in class. Teachers drew on new concepts of continuous assessment where students could be given continuous feedback in ways to overcome the challenges and provide teachers an understanding of where students could face difficulties in their lessons or concepts. Also, the Ministry of Education and the World Bank suggested that these assessments need also to identify male students to face most of the difficul-

**84**

help them set strategies to reach their targets, apply their plans, and raise capacity among school staff. The department instated regulatory guidelines and policies, thus creating an accountable system for the schools. Another role taken by the latter department has been to train teachers in all facets of basic education. The training assured that basic education program effectively trained in the philosophy, methodology, and curriculum material of the basic education. At the center of the training was the Teacher Training Center in Muscat and later instituted in all the Ministry of Education Directories moved to all out regions in Oman [27].

Teachers Institutes were the only organizations training teachers which later in 1970s became Colleges of Education and integrated in a larger university system, eventually offering a bachelor's degree. The Ministry of Education in fact established the Directory General for Evaluation and Development, and as part of the higher education development, Sultan Qaboos University was established in 1986 with five colleges were established. This included Education and Islamic studies, Agriculture, Sciences, Medicine, Engineering, and Humanities. In addition, there were a number of educational establishments to train in trade, technical, agricultural, and education teacher training, in addition to the Institute of Justice, Institute of Health Sciences, Institute of Finance, Professional Training Institute, Institute of Public Administration, Oman College of Industrial Arts, and Police and Internal Security Training Centers [20]. As with the Sultan Qaboos University, the Ministry of Education made an initiative by drawing upon practices of educational systems as that of the United Kingdom, United States of America, Canada, Australia, and Malaysia, taking into account Omani values and traditions. The intention was to build a citizen whose strong faith in God, loyalty to the nation, is disposed with intellectual, spiritual, emotional, and social qualities amicable with Oman's culture and tradition.

Another step forward was the initiation of the National Forum on the Development of Secondary Education of grade 11–12 held in 2002; it linked closer higher education with the secondary education, and it was apparent with a global world moving to an age of connectedness. Thus, as social systems change all the artifacts around, human functioning and interconnectedness must also change. It is thus within those changes that Oman positioned itself in a global context [29].
