Oman

The government is encouraging the establishment of private universities to help meet the increasing demand for higher education – but it is determined to control accreditation.

According to the country’s planning director for higher education, Omani universities can accommodate only 32 percent of the 27,000 who graduate high school each year.

Many students go abroad for higher education. There are 5,000 fee-paying Omanis studying in the United Arab Emirates alone. Others go elsewhere to study, some by choice but many because they did not get into the highly competitive Sultan Qaboos University just outside Muscat. The government sees these students as potential recruits for private universities at home.

Last fall, the government authorized the founding of private universities in the regional capitals of Nizwa, Sohar and Salalah from a consortium of existing colleges. Many of these schools offer courses accredited in the United Kingdom. The newly established Oman College of Medicine is affiliated with the University of West Virginia in the United States. Staff is being recruited both locally and from abroad.

— Times Higher Education Supplement
April 6, 2001

The United Arab Emirates

The American University of Sharjah is offering professional certificates to help government and private-sector employees meet the demands of the changing job market.

The new programs were launched the first week of October and are available through the university’s Continuing Education Center. Certificates are offered in such fields as information technology, e-commerce, digital media production, Internet and Intranet computing, sales and marketing and accounting and finance. The programs will also serve to bridge the gulf between traditional education and practical education.

Coursework will take nine months. Preparatory English classes have also been set up to help students improve their language skills.

— Gulf News
Aug. 29, 2001