Academic courses under specialised category are popular among Omani students who have aspirations to grow and emerge as successful by fulfilling all the international parameters. Students in this category love to pursue even courses abroad and come back to serve the country either as entrepreneurs or middle-management employees in their areas of specialisation.
Education consultant Kala Rao called this trend dynamic, which makes the higher education institutions (HEIs) to customise the courses according to market needs. She admitted that 60 to 65 per cent enquirers were from career-oriented Omani students who wanted to pursue their education in reputed universities abroad.
“Universities are in constant efforts to offer degrees that equip graduates with the right attributes that not only meet high standards but are highly valued by global employers and market expectations. The general engineering and business courses are certainly popular among the students,” said Rao, who is Oman Country Manager of IDP Education, a consultancy body which offers services to support students with international education journey and delivers the IELTS test.
The HEI course trend, according to her, has diversified from usual engineering and medicine courses towards more specialised programmes like, environmental management/ sustainability, strategic management, financial planning, human resource development, international relations and politics, criminology, disaster management, hydrogeology, artificial intelligence, cyber-security, data analytics, epidemiology, forensics, dentistry specialisations, educational leadership, super-specialisations in law like property, human rights, constitutional law etc.
Commenting on the status of vocational courses, Rao said that students still preferred academic courses over vocational ones, especially undergraduate students. “Postgraduate students may look at short programmes to enhance or to value add their ongoing career profile.”
With evolving technology many emerging trends within the education sector emerged. But still there is demand for academic courses among the undergraduates. There are still takers for traditional courses especially at undergraduate level. At postgraduate level, students like to diversify and pursue their interests at a more intricate level which will add to their career profile.
As a note of suggestion, Rao advises students to first keep their interests and capabilities in mind before they finalise their career choices. “At an undergraduate level, they need to understand their long term goals and career outcomes. Based on the subjects they have taken in their previous studies, their school/college grades, country preferences and other related aspects they need to look at various programme options. They need to understand the course structure and modules closely and gauge if that actually meets their interests and needs. The location and cost also play a major role in choosing a particular programme.”
She agreed that there is parental pressure in some cases in choosing a career or a stream that is carried on as a legacy or due to some preconceived notions of certain careers being more in demand and more reputable and successful. Mostly, the students select the majors from the list specified by the sponsors depending on whichever suits them.
Rao suggested students to do good research before finalising a stream and institution and not to hesitate in availing specialised services being offered by many education service providers.
For example, “we at IDP help assist the students find the best possible course. With our years of experience, we have expert knowledge of application processes and requirements so students get the most informed guidance to back up their case,” she said.
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