Job Discussion Forums

nicole2010 · Joined: 24 Jan 2010 Posts: 25

'the problem is not that these institutions are young, but rather they seem to be on the wrong track as i detailed in my article and the people in charge are not willing to acknowledge these problems. I actually made this point when i was talking to some officials in UOB. i told them that when dealing with a problem, the first step is to recognize there is one. '

<---This is true. I don't think Anas is participating in snobbery. If you look at international rankings of Universities world wide, Oman has no school ranking in the top 500, but Saudi has two.

UOB has a jaded past. They had several different contracts to recruit teachers and get things rolling for UOB causing discord between the Omani administers at UOB and the contracted administrators and teachers. The first hired contractors failed to produce and what was then ELS took over. ELS did manage to hire the teachers and get the school opened. However, there were lots of complaints from the teachers under ELS.

I think ELS's problem was they did not communicate effectively and timely enough with their teachers which caused a type of uncertainly among the teachers feeding distrust toward ELS. Also, ELS didn't have the manpower or cash flow to effectively manage the programme. However, they did get the school open which may never have happened without them do to the total incompetence of the others who were supposed to do it. ELS had a Canadian manager for their Muscat office who is a good guy and highly competent, but he was not that involved the the UOB project.

Also, with the exception of SQU and maybe the German Tech; the Omani colleges really are not up to par in any shape or form. A large problem is the people managing them. Any time there is a competent teacher from the outside who has a clue about education, it is a threat to the some of the teachers who do not speak English that well and to the management because they will be reminded of how totally incompetent they are when compared to outside standards. Their 'appearance' is then shattered. It only hurts Omanis in the end as they will not obtain an education to the level needed to participate in the work force with the appropriate skills for the job.

MuscatGary · Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2014 4:52 pm Post subject:

CANDLES · Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2014 5:17 pm Post subject:

Some people and countries are more open to suggestions and improvements. Others are mules!

a.anas · Joined: 24 Jun 2014 Posts: 26 Location: Sudan

Candles, none of the problems cited in the article are attributable to lack of experience. the deliberate illegal and unprofessional practices in UOB are driven not so much by lack of expertise as by profit maximization.

at first, UOB was run by a guy from Austria, but his standards were too high ( IELTS score and so forth) and so he was replaced with an Egyptian. The point i want to make is that the main shareholders don't care about academic standards as much as they care about profit.

CANDLES · Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2014 6:04 pm Post subject:

I know, I was there, surrounded by money grabbing parasites!

The only way anything is going to be solved at UOB and et al is through the intervention of the Sultan.