Quality of higher education in 21st century - a case of oman

Higher education sector in Oman has grown and made significant development in the last decade. There is heavy investment to improve the education infrastructure, provide increased education opportunities with focus on women education to ensure equality and equity. The spread of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) of all types, diversified programmes and establishment of Quality Assurance Council is a testimony to the importance given by the nation to ensure quality of higher education that the needs/requirements of 21st century are met. In order to achieve an international standard in higher education, all HEIs have adopted - imported curriculum, recruited international / expatriate faculty and English as a medium of instruction. Despite these efforts, the quality of education in term of 21st century, requirement both in terms of knowledge acquisition and skills seems to be missing and is not up to the desired level. The objective of this study is to find out to what extent abilities have improved vis-à-vis the requirements and the missing factors responsible for knowledge acquisition and skills. This paper is based on primary and secondary data. Primary data is collected from various Omani HEIs using observation and interview methods.

Higher Education ,

Curriculum ,

Faculty ,

Knowledge ,

Skills ,