Urgent Need for Investment in Health and Education Sectors in Dhofar

Dhofar Governorate faces serious challenges in the health and education sectors. Recent reports highlight the urgent need for significant investment to meet the needs of the growing population and develop the necessary infrastructure.

Dhofar’s health sector is in dire need of investment to adequately serve its population. The governorate is struggling with a shortage of hospital beds, with only 12.8 beds per 10,000 people compared to the national average of 16.5. This shortage requires an increase in the number of beds to meet the growing demand for healthcare.

The situation is further exacerbated by a shortage of medical personnel. In Dhofar, there are only 178 doctors, or 3.7 per 10,000 people, and 472 nurses, or 9.7 per 10,000 people. These numbers are far below required levels, underlining the urgent need for more health workers.

Furthermore, the lack of specialized medical laboratories in Dhofar makes it difficult to provide advanced medical services and precise disease diagnosis, further burdening the healthcare system.

In the education sector, Dhofar has 164 government schools and non-Omani students make up 11.9% of the total student body. However, the governorate suffers from a lack of schools operating in the morning shift and only 15 schools operating in the evening shift, which puts additional pressure on the already overloaded educational infrastructure and affects the quality of education.

The higher education landscape is similarly limited. Dhofar has only four government colleges and one private university, all located in Salalah. This limited distribution limits access to higher education for students from other parts of the governorate.

Strategic recommendations:

• Health Sector: Increase investment in hospital construction and expansion to increase bed capacity. Increase recruitment and ongoing training for doctors and nurses. Establish specialized medical laboratories to provide advanced healthcare services and improve diagnostic accuracy.

• Education Sector: Increase the number of government schools operating in the morning shift to ease pressure on current institutions. Develop more higher education institutions across the governorate to ensure wider access to higher education.

Through these strategic recommendations, the Dhofar provincial government aims to improve healthcare and education services and infrastructure to keep up with the growing population and its needs.

Qasim Al Maashani

The author is the head of the business department of the Oman Observer