(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Oman's average in terms of adult literacy, youth literacy, gender parity and quality of education is better than Arab states, UNESCO's 11th Education for All, Global Monitoring Report has said.
The report, released last week, stated that primary school enrollment was 87 per cent across Arab states, just below the global average of 89 per cent.
But Oman can be considered to have reached universal levels with enrollment at 98 per cent in 2011, as universal primary education ratio is 97 per cent or more.
But the report's findings also state that ten per cent of global spending on primary education is being lost due to poor quality of education that make the children learn.
This situation leaves one in four young people in poor countries unable to read even a single sentence. This global learning crisis ¨C a phenomenon where children are not able to learn the basics ¨C is costing countries US$129bn a year.
As Oman aims at 100 per cent primary enrollment by 2015, the report raised concerns about primary school enrollment in the region, which might have increased but it has translated into a global loss as the students were unable to learn basic skills.
In a written statement, Andrew Johnston, editor, Education for All Global Monitoring Report said,
''The concerns over basic skills and the cost of poor education are about how well children in school are learning. If some children are failing to learn the basics even after at least four years at school, then 100 per cent enrollment is not sufficient in itself. In Oman, only 70 per cent of children are reaching grade 4 and learning the basics. (The other 30 per cent either didn't reach grade 4 or reached it but didn't learn the basics).
He also pointed out, ''Oman has failed to make sure that its poorest children have the same education opportunities as other children. The chance of a poor student in Oman achieving minimum learning standards is similar to that of a student in less wealthy countries, such as Ghana.''
Johnston also suggested that Oman could focus its education policies better on reaching the disadvantaged, by making sure that poor children get the best teachers. Currently, for example, Oman's remote regions tend to get teachers with less experience. For example, in Al Wusta in 2009, 59 per cent of the teachers had less than five years of experience, compared with the 26 per cent at national level
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