|
Demographic Profile
Oman’s population is approximately 2.5 million out of which around 1.85 million are Omanis and the rest (650,000) expatriates, including around 380,000 Indians.
Economic profile
Oman’s economy is dependent on oil, which accounts for around 50% of GDP and 75% of Government revenue, even though Oman is a small producer by Gulf standards, producing around 350 million barrels of crude annually. Oman’s GDP is around US$20 billion. Per Capita Income is approx. US$8000. Oil revenues have been used to develop infrastructure, health, education and communications during the past thirty years.
Higher Education System
The Sultan Qaboos University in Muscat is the most important University in Oman. At present it takes in around 3000 students every year and has a total enrollment of around 12,000 at graduate and post-graduate level in arts, sciences, commerce, engineering and medical streams. During the past few years new universities have been set up at Sohar, Nizwa and Salalah to cater to the growing number of high school leavers, presently around 50,000. In addition, there a number of technical/vocational institutions, including some with affiliation to universities/institutions abroad, including India.
Number of students going abroad for higher education
Exact numbers are not available for Omanis but this figure would be in the region of around 2000-3000 per year including those going abroad for post graduate and doctoral studies.
Popular countries of destination
JK, Egypt, Jordan, USA, Australia and India (around 500 a year)
Popular programmes of study
English, technical studies including engineering, medicine and IT
General comments
See enclosed letter for responses to (8), (9) and (10)
Contact officers in Embassy
Shri Bhupinder Singh
First Secretary
Embassy of India
Muscat
E-mail: fspe@indemb-oman.org
|
New Initiatives
P I H E A D