Oman education: Parents prefer private schools over public for children

Muscat: More parents are opting to send their children to private schools as public school enrolment shot up during the 2015-2016 academic year, according to the National Centre for Statistics and Information.
The latest data showed that the number of students in private schools rose by 5 per cent to 101,860, up from 97,465 last year. The number of students in international schools also recorded a 4 per cent increase with 60,425 students registered.
During the 2015-2016 academic year, 540,068 students studied in public schools, compared with 523,522 during the last academic year, which reflected a 3.2 per cent jump.
Almost three quarters of a million students studied in schools during the 2015-2016 academic year across the Sultanate, with the total pegged at 724,395.
The data also pointed out that 26,552 of them studied in literacy centres and centres for adult education.
However, special needs schools registered a drop of 2 per cent from 496 during the last academic year to 487 in the 2015-2016 academic year.
Other government schools also registered a 3 per cent decline to 21,555 students during the 2015-2016 academic year, down from 22,108 students. 369,496 of the students were males, while the remaining 354,926 were females.
Furthermore, the 2015-2016 academic year saw a total of 67,901 teachers, with the teacher-student ratio pegged at an average of one teacher for every 11 students.
The data also showed there are a total of 1,647 schools in the Sultanate, where Muscat topped the list of governorates, with 374 schools established, followed by the North Al Batinah Governorate with 285 schools. The A’Dakhiliya Governorate followed with 203 schools being opened and 186 in Dhofar Governorate.