Education important for social growth in Oman: Tanfeedh

 Education deserves the most attention in order to achieve economic and social growth in Oman, a survey of Oman’s community found with regards to the Tanfeedh Programme.

As part of Tanfeedh’s community outreach, over 2,500 community members participated in a survey conducted last year to indicate their highest priorities for the future of Tanfeedh. 

Survey results indicated that the education and higher education sector, at 23.2 per cent, constituted the most important sector to be discussed and considered during the Tanfeedh sessions.

This sector was followed by a combined 17.2 per cent for the agriculture and fisheries, and 13.3 per cent for the health sector.

The mining sector was considered the fourth most important at 10.8 per cent, according to the survey, and the technology, innovation and communications sector was last at 9.7 per cent.

The newly released Tanfeedh 2017 handbook indicated that moving forward, future programmes will fall under 121 projects, which are consolidated under 74 major umbrella projects in the tourism, manufacturing, logistics, manpower, and finance sectors.

The handbook also emphasised the importance of outreach to the community for major national programmes.

“The aim is to familiarise the community with the Tanfeedh programme and the sectors covered during its first phase, as well as review the range of initiatives started in the various target sectors,” it said.

“There are three main means of communication with the community: an open exhibition on held from November 28 to 30, 2016 social media platforms and audio-visual media, and an electronic questionnaire from November 18 to December 1, 2016 for community insights into the programme and the material reviewed during the open exhibition,” it added.

The survey included 2,557 participants, of which 18 per cent were non-Omanis and 81 per cent were Omanis. 76 per cent of those surveyed were college-educated, and a majority of the survey answers from online came from the Twitter link posted by Tanfeedh.

Over 90 per cent of participants consistently answered positively to Tanfeedh’s lab findings in supporting future project initiatives, including improving efficiency, and collaboration between different sectors. 94.5 per cent of surveyed participants believed that Tanfeedh would contribute in economic diversification. 92.6 per cent believed that Tanfeedh would contribute to raising Oman’s competitive strength in different economic and social aspects. A staggering 96.4 per cent thought that the development of performance measurement indicators will help various government institutions to achieve the goals set and get the desired results.

More than 5,000 visitors attended an exhibition held from April 28 to 30, 2016 as part of Tanfeedh’s community outreach. The questionnaire also indicated that 97 per cent of participants thought that the community should be involved in decision making for Tanfeedh, while 90 per cent thought positively of engaging the private sector in Tanfeedh.

The surveyed participants represented government and private sector employees equally at 45 per cent each, and private business owners constituted 8 per cent of the participants.

The survey also indicated that community members primarily learnt about Tanfeedh news and updates through social media, followed by newspapers, and radio sources.

Source: Timesofoman