Education
Human development remains a top priority, His Majesty noted: "You are aware of the extent of the attention we accord to the development of human resources in order to provide our young sons and daughters with wider and better opportunities for education, training and employment. There can be no doubt that the human being is the basic component and the cornerstone of any viable civilization."
To realize its full potential a country needs its own trained nationals and education is the basis for developing such human resources. Over R02.5 billion had been spent on education over the years up to the beginning of the Seventh Five-year Plan, which began last year (2006-2010) and no slow down in funding is anticipated.
As is well recorded, when Sultan Qaboos came to power in 1970 there were no more than a handful of schools across the length and breadth of Oman. In the school year 2006-2007 there were almost 578,000 male and female students in education (general and basic) and over 2,200 students graduated from Sultan Qaboos University during the last academic year. In his speech at the opening of the Council of Oman's 2006 annual session, Sultan Qaboos welcomed plans for the opening of a number of new universities to complement those already in existence, "provided that objective studies prove the feasibility of setting them up; that their programs are of a sufficiently high standard to qualify their graduates for a career; and their certificates are guaranteed recognition - both nationally and internationally.
 In another initiative to support higher education, Sultan Qaboos granted private universities the sum of R017 million each to spend on buildings, laboratories and basic utilities. This financial assistance is, His Majesty said, intended "to encourage them to carry out the important task of providing the community with nationals who are highly qualified academically, scientifically and practically." The beneficiaries of this support include the universities of Muscat, Nizwa, Sohar, and Dhofar, as well as the Buraimi University project. The university planned for the Sharqiyah region will qualify for similar support when the project1 s feasibility is confirmed.
His Majesty's government provides full or partial funding for thousands of scholarships every year to enable the talented sons and daughters of families on social security benefits to complete their education at private universities and university colleges, regardless of their family circumstances. In addition to formal education, many Omani citizens also receive free training to qualify them for jobs in the technical fields urgently required at the current stage of Oman's development. The government encourages membership of unions and other civil organizations that work towards helping citizens develop their skills and career prospects.
