Faisal wanted to be an engineer, now expects to get a call centre job MUSCAT // A fortnight ago, Asma al Yahmadi saw her dreams crumble when she heard she had achieved an average grade of only 69 per cent for her final secondary school examinations. The result meant the 18-year-old living with her parents in Muscat would probably never advance to higher education and gain a degree, something she had long worked towards. Ms al Yahmadi is just one of 4,000 young Omanis from low-income families who graduate from secondary schools across the country every year without the qualifications that would make them eligible for government scholarships.
"My father will never afford to pay for my fees to study information technology. He is a civil servant who gets only 450 Omani rials [Dh4,300] a month. I don't know what I am going to do," Ms al Yahmadi said. Oman has seven universities and 24 foreign-affiliated colleges providing higher education with permission to award degrees. On average they charge 2,500 rials a year for a degree course, a figure beyond the means of many poor Omanis, according to Mohammed al Fikri, a parent of a student who did not make the grade for the government scholarships.
"That is a third of what I earn the whole year," Mr al Fikri said. "The other third goes to the mortgage and what is left of it is to put plates of food on the table for my four children." Oman pays the full higher education bill for students that gain average grades of 90 per cent and above in their final school exams. It also provides scholarships covering 50 per cent of university fees if a student gets between 75 per cent and 89 per cent. But these two categories constitute only 20 per cent of all Omanis leaving secondary school.
Even some of those who qualified for the government funding that would cover half their fees find it financially difficult to continue their education. Faisal al Brashdi, an 18-year-old who gained a 78 per cent mark, said the result meant the end of the road for his dreams to become a petroleum engineer. "I will probably end up in a call centre or a clerk somewhere in a back office of some company because my father can't even afford the 50 per cent funding. He is a sentry in the ministry of defence," Mr al Brashdi said.
According to figures from the ministry of education, an average of 13,000 Omani students pass their final year's examinations every year, but only 2,600 students qualify for government scholarships that cover all or half of the cost. Around 6,500 students who do not make the grades for a scholarship have to rely on their parents to pay their higher education fees. For those whose parents cannot afford it, they struggle to get work in a highly competitive job market that often demands a degree, employment experts say.
"It is not easy for school-leavers to get a job these days," said Mohammed al Rabeea, a job consultant based in Muscat. "Most employers want graduates. Jobs that normally fit their qualification are in short supply. For example, I have 320 applications for only 122 vacancies for school certificate holders. "The lucky ones who get better jobs are kids from rich families who get to study for their degrees even if they don't qualify for the government grant. About 6,500 students leaving secondary schools are in this category," Mr Rabeea added.
Some in the sultanate are now calling on the government to change the rules governing funding for university and college students to help more students from poor backgrounds continue their education. Both Mr al Fikri and Mr al Brashdi urged the government to establish a scholarship quota for poor students to get into higher education. "The government must reserve certain seats for low-income families in universities to create an equal level of education competence for all, regardless of social classes. Otherwise the rift between the poor and the rich in the education system will continue to widen every year," Mr al Brashdi said.
An official at the ministry of higher education, who declined to be identified, said the government is studying the possibility of a higher education quota for the poor and would announce the result next year. @Email:salshaibany@thenational.ae
