The Need for Bridging the Gap between General and Tertiary Education in Oman

Abstract

This paper is based on a plenary session in the professional development Day entitled “The Need for bridging the gap between general and tertiary education in Oman on 19 March 2015 in Sultan Qaboos University. The presentation provides an overview of the English coursebooks and expected changes within the general education in Oman. It also discusses the teacher's challenges in tertiary education especially during the foundation year. The session also highlighted the student's challenges in their first year of university and discussed ways to overcome them. It also questions whether students are facing huge difficulties in their first year of tertiary education and whether this can be called a Tertiary Life ‘Culture Shock’. The paper ends by highlighting a number of suggested ideas which can be useful for supporting students at general and tertiary education.