'No govt jobs for opticians from 2018, improve Omanisation in pvt sector'

There will be no more government jobs for opticians or optics sciences graduates from next year, Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed al Saeedi, Minister of Health, has said. “By the end of 2016, nearly 100 opticians were working in government health institutions across the Sultanate,” the minister said in his reply to the Majlis Ash’shura regarding employment of optics sciences graduates. Statistics indicate there are 50-90 graduates from the field every year from educational institutions within the country and abroad, he said. In view of this problem, Dr Saeedi suggested that the Ministry of Manpower make more efforts to increase the Omanisation rate in private health institutions. He also requested the Ministry of Higher Education to reconsider applications for admission to this course. In a related development, the Ministry of Health (MoH) announced its plans to hire Omanis in place of expatriates for a number of positions, including pharmacists, assistant pharmacists, laboratory technicians, physiotherapists, denturists and x-ray technicians this year. The eligible job-seekers have been asked to apply to the ministry starting from October 22 until November 2. The MoH has been gradually replacing expatriate doctors and nurses with qualified Omanis after clearing necessary exams. The Council of Ministers recently said 25,000 jobs would be offered to Omanis in both public and private institutions in the first phase, starting from December, this year. The cabinet will approve the executive plans that will be implemented to generate appropriate conditions that will enable the government to absorb more job-seekers according to plans aimed at achieving this objective. Zainab al Nassri