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More than 28,000 Omani students to benefit from govt scholarships

MUSCAT - More than Omani 28,000 students will benefit from government scholarships for higher studies in the new academic year, an increase of over 40 per cent compared to the original plan.

The hike follows a recent order by His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said to provide educational grants to an additional 8,500 second school graduates to pursue their studies within and outside the country.
Higher Education Minister Dr Rawiyah bint Saud Al Busaidiyah, said the royal grant would raise the number of students receiving government scholarships in 2011-12 to 28,400, up 43 per cent over the ministry’s original plan for the year.
She was addressing a joint news conference with Manpower Minister Shaikh Abdullah bin Nasser Al Bakri and Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) Vice Chancellor Dr. Ali bin Saud Al Bimani.
“The royal grant has made students, parents and all Omani families happy,” Rawiyah said. Some 51,000 male and female students, wishing to continue their education, have so far registered with the Higher Education Admission Centre (HEAC). The new scholarships mean that 57 per cent of them will go to college at government expense, against 35 per cent last year.
Rawiyah said the ministry, meanwhile, had succeeded in significantly increasing the number of seats and scholarships for 2011-12 at state-run institutions such as the Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) and Colleges of Applied Sciences.
The Manpower Ministry too would admit more students at its Colleges of Technology, she added.
The number of students offered external scholarships as per Sultan Qaboos’ instructions will be 1,500, 15 times more than the ministry’s initial plan. The government traditionally sends students to study in European countries, mainly Germany, France and Austria.
Giving more details about the internal scholarships, Rawiyah said these would be distributed among private institutions with the subjects of specialisation decided on the basis of labour market requirements.
The colleges would be chosen based on reports compiled by the Oman Academic Accreditation Authority (OAAA), field visits by ministry personnel, their infrastructure and specialisations they offered, she added.
She said the two ministries would in this regard also consider major development projects being carried out in the country in the fields of transportation, communications and tourism and their needs of qualified staff.
“Raising the number of students receiving higher education will lead to more qualified Omanis entering the job market, thus decreasing the size of the expatriate workforce especially in specialised and technical jobs. This in turn will contribute to the growth of the national economy,” Rawiyah said.
Answering a question, she said there would be no change in count of scholarships given to students from the social security and limited income families.These would remain at 1,500 and 681, respectively, she added, but pointed out that such students could compete for scholarships in the general category.
ravindranath@khaleejtimes.com

• Oman