Oman – New Cooperation Niche for KTU

Important | 2015-04-23

20–22 April international education fair GHEDEX took place in the capital city of Sultanate of Oman: seven Lithuanian universities introduced study opportunities in Lithuania. Students and schools showed an interest to study at KTU. Informatics, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Technology and Engineering, Applied Physics, Architecture, Business programmes as well as PhD options were among the most popular.

Sultan Qaboos supports the education of Omani citizens starting from primary level to PhD. The official delegation of Lithuanian universities led by Vice-Minister of Education and Science visited the Ministry of Higher Education, Ministry of Manpower, Research Council of Oman to present Lithuanian higher education.

Lithuania and Oman started collaboration a few years ago, and the meeting was scheduled to deal with further cooperation details. For example, Ministry of Manpower of Sultanate of Oman is seeking to send its employees and the technology education schools’ lecturers to pursue the MSc and PhD studies in Lithuania.

Director for Department of International Relations Neringa Narbutienė visited campuses of the leading universities of Oman: Sultan Qaboos, Nizwa, Sohar.

“Studies at Omani universities are conducted in English, thousands of students, especially girls, are seeking higher education. The research facilities in the campuses are up-to-date and both the studies and research are not concentrated on the main field of the Omani economy, i.e. oil industry, but there are obvious attempts to diversify the industrial sectors and to create new incomes generating niches for Omani economy through strengthening the cooperation between the universities and industry. Here is the area where KTU may meet Oman’s needs and transfer our know-how”, said Narbutienė.

Officials from Omani institutions are planning to visit Lithuania and KTU in June.

Following the latest statistics, Omani citizens’ number reached 2.3 billion, while the expatriates from various countries make nearly 1.9 billion inhabitants. The exhibition was attended by Omani, Indians, Syrians, Lebanese pupils – many of the expats were born in Oman.