European Journal of Education Studies
ISSN: 2501 - 1111
ISSN-L: 2501 - 1111
Available on-line at: www.oapub.org/edu
10.5281/zenodo.161392
Volume 2│Issue 7│2016
PUPILS’ AND STUDENTS’ VIEWS ABOUT THE
PBEC EFFECTIVENESS IN OMANi
Noor Alnajar ii
Dr., Assistant Professor, Department of Curriculum and Instruction,
College of Education, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman
Abstract:
The aim of this study was to investigate the PBEC (Post Basic Education Curriculum)
the views of key participants (pupils and students) about the PBEC effectiveness and
the extent to which the PBEC aims, skills and content prepare young people for the
world of work or higher education. In addition, we consider the question, what are the
important aims, skills and content for these participants’ future? And how can these be
made effective to prepare students for their future? This study used specially designed
questionnaires to collect data. The total sample was 550 pupils and students. The results
showed that the participants tended to strongly support the PBEC aims, skills and
subjects in principle. However, they seemed less satisfied with them in practice.
Further, Participants were quite sceptical about the importance and need for some
PBEC subjects; specifically, music and research methodology in preparing them for the
world of work and HE. This research evaluates how the PBEC is viewed by pupils and
provides the Ministry of Education with information about the PBEC efficacy in
achieving its aims. This will give policymakers feedback to develop the PBEC to be
more effective. A number of recommendations: the need to review and develop the
content of PBEC to meet pupils’ expectations and be more flexible so teachers can use it
to deliver pupils the required skills. Also, reviewing the documents of PBEC and
putting in place clearer and more realistic aims of learning compatible with its
anticipated expectations. Finally, there is a need to make an improvement of a teachers
training program for pre-service and in-service to developing teachers’ skills on how to
improve, the pupils’ way of thinking, their way of working, their tools for working and
how they can apply these in the world.
Copyright © The Author(s). All Rights Reserved
Published by Open Access Publishing Group ©2015.
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Noor Alnajar PUPILS’ AND STUDENTS’ VIEWS ABOUT THE PBEC EFFECTIVENESS IN OMAN
Keywords: Sultanate of Oman, post basic education curriculum, Ministry of Education,
curriculum evaluation, PBEC schools, pupils and students view
Instruction
The real beginning of education was in Oman in 1970. The first stage in this period was
spreading the education in all regions of Oman for males and females. The second stage
begging on 1997 when was improving the quality of education be necessary through
the application of the Basic Education Curriculum (BEC) (1998) and then Post Basic
Education Curriculum (PBEC) (2007) (Ministry of Education, 2007).
The reasons behind the development of education in Oman can be grouped into
two basic factors: the first one is related to facing the future challenges and needs of
society to reduce the numbers of foreign workers and prepare Omani citizens for the
labour market (Ministry of National Economy, 2007). The second factor is related to the
weakness of the previous education system (General Education System GES). The
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) (2003) highlighted that the
education system in Oman does not produce the skills needed in an increasingly
competitive world. Unemployment is particularly high among graduates and a large
part of the educated labour force is employed by the government (Al-Lamki, 1998;
Budhwar, Al-Yahmadi, & Debrah, 2002; Keller & Nabli, 2002).
In 2007, the Ministry of Education (MOE) responded by implementing a number
of changes aimed at reforming secondary education, so as to face the worldwide change
in the economy and the needs of society (Porcaro & Reeves, 2013). Dearing (2001) has
argued that the increasingly rapid changes in information technology and the global
economy have led to broad acceptance that societies must constantly update the skills
and knowledge of its citizens in order to function effectively.
The MOE designed the PBEC, a curriculum which provides secondary education
(grades 11 and 12) to overcome the weak points of the previous education curriculum
(Al Minwaria, 2015). The PBEC Document, issued by the Ministry of Education in 2007,
defines the curriculum in terms of its aims, structure, content, skills, characteristics, and
assessment. This document emphasised that the PBEC is a link between the BEC (Basic
education Curriculum) level and the HE level. The PBEC aims to prepare future citizens
for both the labour market and HE, and provides them with lifelong learning skills. The
new curriculum is a two-year education programme following 10 years of basic
education. Graduates from the PBEC are awarded a certificate called the ‘General
Education Diploma’ (Al Sunhoore, 2015).
The PBEC Document (Ministry of Education, 2007) highlighted the general
characteristics of the curriculum for grades 11 and 12 as follows: (a) pupil-centred
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Noor Alnajar PUPILS’ AND STUDENTS’ VIEWS ABOUT THE PBEC EFFECTIVENESS IN OMAN
activities that are based on learning activities that allow pupils to develop their abilities,
(b) understanding and problem-solving that can be applied in a variety of real-life
situations, with emphasis on the development of individual differences and special
talents, (c) a core programme that emphasises the development of employability skills
and universal competencies, and (d) flexibility that permits the Ministry of Education,
regions, or even schools to adapt to the changing needs of the community in terms of
necessary grade 12 skills (Ministry of Education, 2007).
The researcher found four studies which focus on the PBEC due to the fact that
the PBEC was only recently implemented in 2007. The first study was Issan and
Gomaa’s (2010) standalone literature review which analysed the PBEC reforms in Oman
and aimed to determine the aspects of its success and failure. Also, the study aimed to
determine the obstacles and challenges faced in the implementation of PBEC as well as
to determine the reasons behind the reforms of PBEC in Oman. They presented
recommendations for PBEC based on their results. First, they believe that the teachers
need to be well trained to implement the PBEC. Most of the teachers are neither aware
of nor know how they should go about applying modern pedagogy and teaching
vocational skills. Second, most of the PBEC graduates leave with weak practical,
vocational or academic skills, so they are not able to secure a position in the labour
market. Third, the PBEC school environment does not match with the new standard
demands of the PBEC implementation. For example, buildings and facilities such as
labs and workshops are not well enough developed to meet the required criteria of the
new curriculum.
The second study was Al-Mandari’s (2011) which investigated the pedagogy and
assessment methods that allow individual PBEC pupils to use language skills
creatively. This study showed that the scores of the pupils’ creative use of Arabic
Language were very low and there is a dire need to provide professional Arabic
specialists to train teachers on the creative use of Arabic Language pedagogy and
practice.
The third study is Al-Mashani’s (2011), which attempted to determine the most
prominent requirements for aligning the outcomes of the PBEC general diploma with
the requirements of HE. This study used two questionnaires to collect data. The sample
of this study consisted of experts and faculty members from the MOE.
The results showed that there is an agreement among participants about the high
impact of poor harmonization. There are two main reasons for this: Firstly, it’s due to
the shortcomings in the policies of the MOE and HE and lastly due to the poor
communication and partnership between the MOE and HE.
The forth study of importance was carried out by the Ministry of Education in
collaboration with the World Bank (2012) and was aimed at evaluating the quality of
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Noor Alnajar PUPILS’ AND STUDENTS’ VIEWS ABOUT THE PBEC EFFECTIVENESS IN OMAN
education provided in Oman in all of its stages. The most important findings of this
report which are relevant to this study were that: University tutors believed that there is
a low level of skills in students enrolled in HE in science subjects; Omanis lack basic job
skills required of them; Half of Grade 12 graduates do not attend any educational
institutions and are considered part of the workforce; The performance of most students
has fallen below levels that are achievable in many other countries of the world;
Programmes designed to train teachers do not compliment the curriculum.
The aforementioned studies investigated public views related to the PBEC such
as Issan and Gomaa (2010) and the Ministry of Education in collaboration with the
World Bank (2012). My study however intends to provide a specific perspective on the
PBEC aims, skills and content to enable us to better understand how we can improve
the PBEC; to what extent the pupils achieve its aims and skills and finally; to what
extent PBEC content prepare them for their future.
Research question
What are the pupils/students views about the PBEC effectiveness in principle and practice?
Research Methodology
In this research, a questionnaire survey was used to collect data from PBEC
pupils/students.
The questionnaire was administered by the first author to the
participants (pupils and students) and the answers were collected after giving the
participants enough time to complete all of the questions. It was administered in the
pupil’s regular classroom in normal school time. Participants were told that their true
opinions were being asked for, and that no-one but the researcher and her supervisor
would see their responses. The process of completing the questionnaire typically took
20-40 minutes.
The questionnaire was devised in four sections in accordance with the
perspectives of the research interest. In this article we present just the first three sections
of this questionnaire. The first section covers the personal information; gender, school
name/college name, branch of study and one question identifying the level of
enjoyment experienced within PBEC study, to get an indication on the level of interest
in PBEC. The second section investigates two related but distinct aspects: whether or
not the PBEC aims are of importance for the participant’s future, and how effective the
PBEC is in helping pupils to achieve these aims in practice. The third section is about the
importance of the PBEC skills for participants’ future according to the MOE documents,
and how effective the PBEC is in helping pupils to acquire these skills. The fourth
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Noor Alnajar PUPILS’ AND STUDENTS’ VIEWS ABOUT THE PBEC EFFECTIVENESS IN OMAN
section explores the pupils’ views about the importance of each individual subject in the
PBEC in helping them to be ready for their future and how effective these subjects are
in helping them to be ready for HE or the labour market. For example, the second part
of the questionnaire investigates two questions corresponding to the PBEC aims and are
presented in two columns (A and B) representing two main questions where (A) deals
with the importance of PBEC aims for participants future and column (B) the extent of
PBEC effectiveness in helping participants to achieve such aims through PBEC.
The total sample of this article was 550 pupils and students. They are PBEC
pupils, SQU students and Technical college students. The sample of participants of each
group is purposely selected as representative, as it is assumed that all the participants
possess the required information to assist the study. The table below presents the
population sample of this study.
Table1: The population of this study (Department of Statistics and Indicators, 2011; Salalah
Technical College, 2011; Sultan Qaboos University, 2011)
The school
In all Oman region
(2011/2012)
Pupils numbers in PBEC schools &
The number
students numbers in TC in Dhofar
of schools in
region/ SQU in the language centre
Dhofar region
Boys
Girls
Total
22,668
23,043
45,711
1,690
1,814
3,504
SQU
1,440
1,416
2,856
1,112
1,030
2,142
TC
5,860
2,567
8,427
1,169
365
1,534
PBEC School
Boys
Girls
Total
129
grade 12
Table (1) represents the population from which the sample for this study was selected
and who participated by completing the questionnaire survey. The total number of
PBEC pupils in 2011 was 45,711; the number of first-year SQU students admitted was
2,142; and the number of first-year Salalah TC students in the same year was 1,534. The
researcher selected the samples from this population.
Table 2: The sample of participants who completed the questionnaire in the main study
Gender
Boys/ Men
Girls/ Women
Total
Art
Science
Total
PBE
77
104
181
106
75
181
SQU
81
106
187
94
93
187
TC
128
54
182
149
33
182
Total
286
264
550
349
201
550
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Noor Alnajar PUPILS’ AND STUDENTS’ VIEWS ABOUT THE PBEC EFFECTIVENESS IN OMAN
Table 2 shows that the sample selected were: 181 PBEC pupils who were studying the
PBEC in grade 12 for year 2011-2012; and students who graduated from the PBEC and
who were enrolled at the SQU (n=187) and TC (n=182) in the same year.
A sample of three girls’ schools and three boys’ schools were selected from the
PBEC pupils in Dhofar region. These schools were chosen because their environments
are typical of PBEC schools in Oman as the MOE is the governing body for all PBEC
government schools and provides the same environment and curriculum to all schools.
In each of the schools, two classes were selected. The sample size of the PBEC pupils
was 181 participants; 104 girls and 77 boys.
The second sample of participants in this study was the HE students. The size of
the HE students is 369, of which 187 are SQU students (81 men and 106 women) and 182
TEC students (128 men and 54 women). Those students were then studying English
language in the Language Center as a part of their foundation programme. The
Language Center students were chosen because most of the students study English
Language in their first university/college year as a prerequisite. The questionnaire
administration and data collection can be done easily because all the participants are
located in one place – the Language Center.
Piloting the Questionnaire
After completing the questionnaire design, a pilot test was run to make sure that the
questions used in the main questionnaire were clear and easily understood by the
participants and drawing attention to any issues that might need clarification. For
instance, any uncovered important issues regarding the PBEC or any ambiguous
statement. The total number of participants in the sample for the piloting of the
questionnaire was 83. The pilot test was first administered to the PBEC schools and then
to the TC College and SQU students. Most of these modifications were about
misunderstanding; it shows that the PBEC pupils misunderstood and had some
difficulty in understanding some of the questionnaire items. This misunderstanding can
be attributed to the fact that they had not dealt with such concepts before. I clarified the
situation by giving examples using simple words which were more likely to be more
familiar to the pupils.
For example pupils did not understand the assessment word so we clarified this
by providing synonyms such as assignments and exam. Comments received from the
pilot sample gave the researcher the opportunity to modify and rectify the
questionnaire accordingly.
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Noor Alnajar PUPILS’ AND STUDENTS’ VIEWS ABOUT THE PBEC EFFECTIVENESS IN OMAN
Validity and reliability of questionnaire
Prior to using the questionnaire for the data collection, measures were taken to ensure
content validity. To assess the construct validity of the questionnaire, the generated
questions were scrutinized thoroughly in light of the corresponding theory of education
and the available literature in the context of PBEC in Oman. In this study we depended
on the PBEC Document (1) (Ministry of Education, 2007) to build the questionnaire
which defined the characteristics of PBEC. Most of the statements in the questionnaire
were taken from the PBEC Document (1), which allows the questionnaire to correctly
measure what it is supposed to measure, which is the effectiveness of PBEC in regard to
their characteristics that are set within its document.
The content of the questionnaire was examined to evaluate its validity.
Therefore, huge effort was made to ensure that the questions fully represented and
corresponded with the domain of PBEC from the research perspectives. Accordingly,
the questionnaire was reviewed by experts in the fields of curriculum and instruction at
Dundee University and Sultan Qaboos University, to reveal any ambiguity, threatening
questions and any other amendments required to be done prior to administration of the
questionnaire. Consequently, an improved form of the questionnaire was produced.
Reliability is about whether or not the measurement tool produces consistently
the same results under similar circumstances (Blaxter, Hughes, & Tight, 2010;
Sarantakos, 2005). Cronbach’s alpha was calculated for the multi-items questionnaire
using the SPSS statistical package. The Cronbach’s alpha in the main study for all
sections of questionnaire was 0.94, which is considered to be a high value, indicating
that the questionnaire is a reliable measure.
The findings
The five-point Likert scale was used in this questionnaire with its responses ranging
from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree”. When analysing the data, this five-point
scale was subsequently conflated to a three-point scale, in order to make the
interpretation of the results easy and accessible. A column called ‘Positive’ (+) was
added, presenting, as such, the percentage of participants who ticked the “strongly
agree” and “agree” boxes. Similarly, a further column was added for the negative
choices of participants and, as such, was called “negative” (-). The undecided column
remained as it was (?). The following section provides a description of the general
analysis for all of the questionnaire sections.
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Noor Alnajar PUPILS’ AND STUDENTS’ VIEWS ABOUT THE PBEC EFFECTIVENESS IN OMAN
The importance of the PBEC aims versus PBEC effectiveness in helping participants
achieving them – participants’ perspectives
The aim of this section is to compare the participants’ opinions on the importance of the
PBEC aims for their future in principle, and how effectively the PBEC has helped them
achieve those aims in practice. Table 3 below summarises the conflated percentages in
each case.
Table 3: Comparing participants’ views on the importance of the PBEC aims and their
effectiveness
How important are the PBEC for your
Aims
Did the PBEC help you to achieve the
future?
stated aims?
Conflated percentage
Conflated percentage
No
Negative
1
4.7
Undecided
6.9
Positive
Negative
84.2
Equipping
Undecided
Positive
23.0
11.3
62.6
28.5
18.9
48.6
7.8
14.5
73.5
18.1
10.9
67.8
21.0
11.4
64.5
pupils with the
skills required
for HE.
2
6.2
11.1
78.2
Equipping
pupils
with
vocational
skills required
for the labour
market.
3
6.0
7.8
82.6
Promoting
loyalty to the
Sultanate
his
and
Majesty
Sultan Qaboos.
4
3.1
8.7
83.4
Affirming
the
principles
of
Islam, instilling
faith
and
spiritual values
in pupils, and
encouraging
standards
for
pupils’
behaviour.
5
6.9
8.2
80.9
Improving
Arabic
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Noor Alnajar PUPILS’ AND STUDENTS’ VIEWS ABOUT THE PBEC EFFECTIVENESS IN OMAN
language skills.
6
6.3
5.3
82.0
Improving
31.6
10.0
53.4
20.3
27.4
49.7
24.5
18.9
52.9
25.2
17.4
54.4
23.8
52.9
21.2
53.5
English
language skills.
7
6.2
20.9
69.8
Raising
awareness
of
global cultural
trends
and
encouraging
learning
the
from
other’s
experiences.
8
7.3
10.0
77.1
Developing
thinking skills
and
problem-
solving skills.
9
6.7
10.7
79.2
Providing
pupils with the
ability
to
employ
knowledge
real
life
in
and
making
decisions
related to it.
10
8.0
13.8
74.6
Enhancing
19.9
positive
attitudes
towards
productive and
voluntary
work,
money
saving
and
property
protection.
11
8.3
12.3
75.3
Encouraging
22.3
effective use of
autonomous
learning skills,
life-long
learning
skills
and
a
continuous
search
for
knowledge
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Noor Alnajar PUPILS’ AND STUDENTS’ VIEWS ABOUT THE PBEC EFFECTIVENESS IN OMAN
12
6.2
7.3
82.8
Encouraging
peaceful
13.3
11.6
73.2
18.4
16.3
63.9
and
productive
interaction
with other.s
13
6.7
9.8
80.0
Raising health,
population and
environmental
awareness.
From table 3 it seems that the participants consistently reported a higher rating for the
importance of the PBEC aims in principle than the PBEC effectiveness in helping them
to achieve those aims in practice. For instance, “affirming the principles of Islam,
instilling faith and spiritual values among pupils, and providing standards for pupils’
behaviour” obtained a high percentage (83.4%) in principle but scored lower (67.8%)
regarding its effectiveness. The same applies to the aim of “providing pupils with the
ability to employ knowledge in real life and making informed decisions”, which
achieved a high percentage as an important aim for the participants’ future (79.2%),
while in practice, it obtained a less positive agreement (54.4%).
The two basic aims of “equipping pupils with the skills required for HE” and
“equipping pupils with vocational skills required for the labour market” recorded very
high positive scores for importance in principle but scored lower in terms of their
effectiveness. It is noteworthy that 23% and 28.5% respectively of pupils were negative
about how PBEC prepared them in terms of these skills. Similarly, where language skill
is concerned, the participants thought very highly of the English language as being a
most important requirement for their future, but almost one third of respondents
(31.6%) thought the PBEC did not help them achieve this in practice.
It is instructive to look at the negative responses in table 3, comparing for each
item the negative figure for agreement in principle with the corresponding figure for
effectiveness in practice. Remarkably, with items numbered 1, 2, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 there
are often six times as many negative responses for effectiveness as for the principle.
These aims received negative responses rating from 20-28.5%, meaning that about one
quarter of the participants are dissatisfied about the extent to which the PBEC is helping
them achieve these aims. These six aims (numbers 1, 2, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11) are related to
skills that pupils need in order to be ready for the labour market and HE in general,
and, in particular: developing thinking skills; employing knowledge in real life; lifelong learning skills; enhancing positive attitudes towards productive and voluntary
work; and raising awareness for a global culture. It is also interesting to note that the
participants reported a slightly higher rating in the undecided column for the PBEC’s
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Noor Alnajar PUPILS’ AND STUDENTS’ VIEWS ABOUT THE PBEC EFFECTIVENESS IN OMAN
effectiveness in helping them achieve those aims than the importance of those aims for
their future. Overall, there seems little doubt that participants tended to be less satisfied
about the effectiveness of PBEC in providing them with skills to be ready for their
future.
The following section looks more carefully at the specific skills identified in the
PBEC and provides a comparison between the participants’ views about the importance
of these skills for their future in principle and how effectively the PBEC helps them
achieve those skills in practice.
The importance of the PBEC skills versus PBEC effectiveness in helping participants
achieve them – participants’ perspectives
The aim here is to compare participants’ views on the importance of the PBEC skills in
principle and how effectively the PBEC has helped them achieve those skills in practice.
Table 4 below draws a comparison between the conflated percentages in each case.
Table 4: Descriptive statistics for participants’ views on the importance of the PBEC skills for
their future, and its effectiveness in realising them
How important are the PBEC skills (as
Skills
Did the PBEC help you to achieve
listed) for your future?
the stated skills?
Conflated percentage
Conflated percentage
No
Negative
Undecided
Positive
Negative
Undecided
Positive
26.0
14.0
52.1
23.6
23.4
49.0
26.6
19.8
47.7
24.0
14.3
58.2
Communication skills
1
3.8
8.3
80.6
Efficiently
and
confidently
communicating through
different
forms
and
means
of
communication.
2
5.5
13.1
75.9
Appropriately
and
efficiently expressing and
reacting
within
to
emotions
various
cultural
and
social,
linguistic
contexts.
3
6.0
13.1
75.4
Developing
differentiation, analysis,
and
critical
thinking
skills.
4
6.6
7.8
80.6
Discussion
clearly,
of
a topic
logically
and
persuasively with others.
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Noor Alnajar PUPILS’ AND STUDENTS’ VIEWS ABOUT THE PBEC EFFECTIVENESS IN OMAN
How important are the PBEC skills (as
Skills
Did the PBEC help you to achieve
listed) for your future?
the stated skills?
Conflated percentage
Conflated percentage
No
Negative
Undecided
Positive
Negative
Undecided
Positive
35.4
15.6
44.7
27.4
14.7
55.7
28.0
21.1
48.1
26.1
21.4
49.7
24.0
18.0
55.2
26.0
15.8
56.4
23.0
19.8
55.5
29.0
21.4
47.3
27.0
19.6
51.9
24.0
20.1
52.5
Communication skills
Mathematic Skills
5
13.0
10.3
69.3
Being
able
complex
to
handle
mathematical
calculations accurately.
6
10.9
10.5
73.3
Being
able
to
read,
understand and analyse
charts and graphs.
7
9.3
12.7
73.0
Organising
and
classifying
information
logically
and
persuasively.
8
11.6
16.9
65.4
Using
mathematical
patterns and Numerical
relations.
Information Technology Skills
9
6.1
11.8
77.7
Organising,
evaluating
analysing,
and
using
information.
10
5.6
10.9
79.5
Presenting
clearly,
information
accurately,
logically and briefly.
11
5.6
11.8
78.8
Recognising,
describing
analysing
others’
viewpoint and being able
to differentiate between
facts
and
personal
opinions.
12
8.0
14.7
72.6
Retrieving
and
information
processing
confidently
it
and
efficiently.
Problem-Solving Skills
13
7.4
14.7
73.4
Unleashing imagination
and being flexible and
taking initiative.
14
8.9
11.6
73.5
Identifying
describing
problems,
them
troubleshooting
and
around
them.
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Noor Alnajar PUPILS’ AND STUDENTS’ VIEWS ABOUT THE PBEC EFFECTIVENESS IN OMAN
How important are the PBEC skills (as
Skills
Did the PBEC help you to achieve
listed) for your future?
the stated skills?
Conflated percentage
Conflated percentage
No
Negative
Undecided
Positive
Negative
Undecided
Positive
23.6
20.0
54.5
24.7
17.6
55.7
18.3
16.7
61.7
21.4
20.9
55
24.0
18.1
54.4
25.6
21.2
50.9
24.0
17.4
57
Communication skills
15
6.9
16.2
71.6
Linking
ideas
and
relating them to each
other.
16
7.5
10.5
78.1
Testing
ideas
solutions,
and
decisions
experience,
and
making
based
on
logic
and
evidence.
Personal and Social Skills
17
4
8.3
81.9
Taking responsibility as
an active member of a
team to achieve agreed
upon tasks and decision.
18
7.1
13.1
74.6
Presenting description of
tasks to be completed in
terms of time and effort
required.
19
5.5
11.1
77.8
Negotiating positively to
reach
agreements
in
controversial issues.
20
5.1
12.7
78.3
Developing
time-
management techniques
by determining priorities
of tasks, executing them
and following them up.
21
5.2
9.1
80.9
Proving
efficient
in
serving others as a basis
for success in running
small business projects.
Participants consistently reported higher ratings for the importance of the PBEC skills
in principle than they do for their effectiveness in practice. It can also be seen from the
table that personal skills took the priority in their importance (in principle) according to
the participants’ views but, as with the previous analysis in table 3, the effectiveness of
PBEC to help them achieve those skills was considerably lower. In contrast,
Mathematical skills were ranked as less important than personal skills for pupils’
future, again with a lower score for effectiveness.
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Noor Alnajar PUPILS’ AND STUDENTS’ VIEWS ABOUT THE PBEC EFFECTIVENESS IN OMAN
As with the previous analysis, what is most interesting is that although the participants
tended to agree with the importance of the PBEC skills for their future, they wereless
satisfied about the PBEC effectiveness in helping them achieve these skills in practice.
Focusing on the negative scores in the ‘in practice’ column, it is notable that often a
quarter or more of pupils are negative about the extent to which the PBEC is helping
them to acquire the necessary skills. This seems a particularly high figure and certainly
indicates that a high proportion of pupils feel that the PBEC may be ineffective in terms
of helping their skill development.
The Importance of the PBEC subjects in principle versus the PBEC subjects in
practice – participants’ perspectives
The aim of this section is to compare the importance of PBEC subjects for participants’
futures and how effectively those subjects prepare them for the future. Table 5
illustrates the conflated percentage for each of these subjects.
Table 5: Descriptive statistics for participants’ opinions on the importance of the PBEC subjects
versus the effectiveness of the PBEC with regard to the taught
How important are the PBEC subjects
Subjects
How
(as listed) for your future?
effective
were
the
stated
subjects in helping you to be ready
for work or HE?
Conflated percentage
No
Negative
Undecided
Conflated percentage
Positive
Negative
Undecided
Positive
16.4
8.7
69.4
Culture
1
4.1
4.0
85.7
Islamic Culture
Language subjects
2
6.7
6.5
79.0
Arabic Language
17.6
9.4
67.2
3
5.1
6.5
73.2
English Language (A)
20.3
10.2
54.4
4
6.6
10.3
59.3
English Language (B)
18.7
12.7
50.1
Scientific subjects
5
8.2
8.0
63.3
Pure Mathematics
12.8
15.1
54.1
6
11.1
14.3
51.9
Applied Mathematics
13.2
18.5
47.8
7
9.6
11.4
59.7
Biology
11.3
14.0
56.5
8
8.2
10.3
61.9
Chemistry
11.6
15.4
54.4
9
8.3
11.1
61.0
Physics
13.1
14.2
54.6
10
14.8
18.0
43.2
Environmental
18.5
24.1
34.5
18.5
24.9
33.9
science
11
14.9
19.2
40.4
Science
and
Technology
Social study subjects
12
13.0
17.8
42.3
Economic Geography
15.4
21.1
37.7
13
13.2
15.6
44.6
Modern
14.7
21.4
37.9
Technology
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Noor Alnajar PUPILS’ AND STUDENTS’ VIEWS ABOUT THE PBEC EFFECTIVENESS IN OMAN
and Geography
14
13.5
14.3
45.0
History
of
Islamic
16.7
19.4
38.0
Civilization
15
14.7
10.0
65.6
This is my Country
18.3
14.2
57.6
16
16.9
18.9
41.0
The world around me
19.1
22.5
37.4
to
17.4
13.4
47.2
in
15.8
17.8
42.8
15.0
18.1
40.6
Technology subjects
17
11.7
11.6
52.8
Introduction
Information
Technology
18
9.3
11.8
54.8
Computers
Telecommunication
and Business
19
8.2
12.3
52.8
Computer Science
Generic skills subjects
20
29.4
17.8
32.6
Fine arts
29.0
19.6
30.5
21
38.5
16.5
22.7
Musical skills
33.3
20.3
22.9
22
30.0
13.2
45.7
School Sports
29.8
14.3
44.8
23
23.4
10.0
54.7
Life skills
35.9
10.9
44.5
24
35.5
11.1
43.7
Research
23.4
9.8
55.6
17.4
13.4
47.2
Methodology
25
20.3
9.6
58.2
Career Guidance
Displaying similar trends to the previous analysis above, participants reported higher
ratings for the importance of the PBEC subjects in principle than that they did for how
effective those subjects were in helping them to be ready for the world of work or HE.
For example, both Islamic culture and English language subjects obtained a higher level
as being important subjects for participants’ future while they were given lower
ranking in terms of PBEC effectiveness in preparing pupils for the world of work or HE.
Similar patterns were evident across the different subject groups, with the exception of
the generic skills group,
Participants seemed to think of certain subjects as being less important for their
future. For example, music and research methodology subjects got a high negative
percentage (38.5% and 35.5%, respectively) as important subjects for their future but
were slightly less negative (33.3% and 23.4%, respectively) about their effectiveness in
preparing them for the future.
It seems that the difference between PBEC subjects in principle and practice is
not as strong as with the earlier analysis of aims and skills in principle and practice.
However, some subjects received negative views that were two or three times higher in
practice than in principle. For instance, the language group subject showed a negative
figure that was two or three times higher in practice than in principle. Participants
tended to be dissatisfied about the PBEC language subjects’ effectiveness in helping
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Noor Alnajar PUPILS’ AND STUDENTS’ VIEWS ABOUT THE PBEC EFFECTIVENESS IN OMAN
them to be ready for the world of work or HE. Given the importance of language, both
in the workplace and in HE, this seems to be a worrying finding.
Another important conclusion from the above data is that participants seemed to
be discriminating in how they viewed different groups of subjects. They tended to view
some of the PBEC subjects as important for their future but were less happy about their
effectiveness in helping them get ready for the world of work or HE.
Conclusion
In general, it is clear from the questionnaire data results that there is a remarkable
difference in participants’ views about the PBEC aims, skills and subjects in principle
and in practice. From this perspective, the participants tend to strongly support the
PBEC aims and skills in principle. They, however, seem less satisfied with the
effectiveness of the PBEC in achieving the aims and skills concerned.
In particular, the two basic aims (preparing for the world of work and HE) which
were used to justify the introduction of the PBEC received high scores as being
important aims but very few participants felt that the PBEC is effective in achieving
those aims. Moreover, the aim of providing pupils with English Language skills, which
is a basic skill in the labour market and HE education, also received a low percentage.
The same scenario was evident in regards to the PBEC skills. Participants seemed less
satisfied about the PBEC effectiveness to provide necessary skills for their future.
According to the respondents, the most important skills for participant’s futures are
personal skills and the least important are Mathematics skills. It seems clear that while
pupils need personal skills to succeed in their future, Mathematic skills are specific
skills for a certain job.
There are many factors which may contribute to develop pupils’ skills, such as
teachers’ skills, teaching methods, the content and the learning environment. Several
studies have reported that teachers feel that they do not have the time to think about
how to make their teaching more effective because of the burden of administration
duties (Al-Darmake, 2008 & Al-Hadabia 2010). Wyatt (2013) added that teachers in
Oman lacked job satisfaction and motivation.
In regards to the PBEC subjects, the difference between the PBEC subjects in
principle and practice is slightly larger. In particular, Islamic culture and Language
subjects (Arabic and English) got a high score as important subjects for participants’
future. This is not a surprising result because Omani society is an Islamic society. The
language is a basic skill for the participants’ future to succeed in HE or labour market.
Even in these two areas there seems a degree of dissatisfaction in the extent to which
the PBEC prepares pupils with them.
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Noor Alnajar PUPILS’ AND STUDENTS’ VIEWS ABOUT THE PBEC EFFECTIVENESS IN OMAN
On other hand, Research methodology and Music subjects got the lowest percentages as
important subjects. Despite the importance of Research methodology as a subject, the
participants have a negative view about it. We might attribute this negative feedback
according to my experience with teachers and pupils/students in PBEC schools to the
lack of specialised teachers, the nature of study and research of this particular module,
which is in stark contrast from the tradition of studying at schools in Oman. Music
subjects got the lowest score, and it is not difficult to see why some pupils may regard
this as less important to their future. However, it does seem strange that pupils did not
see research methodology as being important, given current educational views about
the ability to access information independently and the growth of self-directed learning.
This is an issue that requires further examination.
The inconsistency between principles and practices leads the discussion to the
weaknesses of PBEC in terms of its planning and implementation. The researcher thinks
that planning and implementation are interrelated in that planning needs to take into
account the feasibility of application while implementation needs advanced planning to
achieve its anticipated goals and objectives. The existing gap between the principles and
practices of PBEC has noticeably affected the whole educational process and its
outcomes. This study shows that to prepare teachers adequately, the PBEC does not fit
with the curriculum. Clearer and more realistic aims of learning compatible with its
anticipated expectations are needed.
The researcher recommends that more in-depth information needs to be
gathered about the PBEC, particularly about its aims in preparing pupils for the world
of work and HE. We need to know what the obstacles are that may hinder it to become
more effective. Whilst the literature review mentions some reasons such as teachers’
skills and teaching methods, it would also be worthwhile to conduct a robust
qualitative study which would illuminate the barriers and obstacles preventing the
PBEC from becoming more effective. In particular it will be important to explore with
pupils why they feel that the PBEC is not effective in practice. Does the problem lie with
the beliefs of pupils towards PBEC or is it the poor quality of curriculum content, or the
activities that the children are expected to engage wither the teaching approaches
employed. Further exploration on the PBEC aims, skills, and subjects to improve their
efficacy and the methods that can deliver the skills and content would also be a
valuable endeavour. Lastly, there is a need to review the subjects that got high
percentages as important subjects for pupils/students such as Islamic culture and
English language as this might help us to understand how to make the other subjects
just as important for them.
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