During its meeting held on Wednesday, the Bureau of the Shura Council expressed its appreciation for the gracious audience granted by His Majesty Sultan Haitham Tarik, during which His Majesty commended the level of development achieved by the Shura Council in its working mechanisms and the effectiveness it has attained in fulfilling its roles in a manner that enhances national participation and keeps pace with the requirements of comprehensive development.

The Bureau also reviewed the agenda of the Council’s upcoming sessions scheduled to be held at the beginning of January. This took place during the Bureau’s seventh regular meeting of the third annual session of the tenth term (2023–2027), chaired by the Chairman of the Shura Council, with the attendance of Bureau members and the Secretary General of the Council.
During the meeting, the Bureau reviewed a number of ministerial responses, most notably a request for briefing regarding the number of expatriate teachers at the Ministry of Education and the Omanization rates within the Ministry. The briefing included data on the number of expatriate teachers during the 2025/2026 academic year, the approved strategic plans to increase Omanization rates across educational professions of various specializations, mechanisms for the gradual replacement of expatriate teachers, the associated timelines, and the educational disciplines that continue to rely on external recruitment, along with the reasons for such reliance.
The Bureau also reviewed the response of the Minister of Education to a parliamentary question regarding the increase in tuition fees for students with Autism Spectrum Disorder, as well as a request for briefing concerning the initiative to purchase educational services for Omani students with Autism Spectrum Disorder. In addition, the Bureau reviewed the Minister’s response to a request for briefing on the cancellation of evening education.
Furthermore, the Bureau reviewed the response of the Minister of Agricultural, Fisheries and Water Resources Wealth to a request for briefing regarding the suspension of issuing and renewing licenses for practicing marine fishing. In another context, the Bureau reviewed the Minister’s response to a request for briefing on the role of artificial rain enhancement stations in stimulating rainfall. The response indicated that these stations are located within the Western and Eastern Al Hajar mountain ranges and Dhofar Governorate, noting that cloud seeding technologies do not create clouds but rather stimulate existing cumulonimbus clouds, depending on wind speed and direction, while taking into account climatic data and numerical models. The response further stated that the Ministry is currently seeking to expand the establishment of rain enhancement stations and introduce advanced technologies.


The Bureau also reviewed the response of the Chairman of the Oman Investment Authority to a request for briefing regarding certain operational expenditures of the Oman Tourism Development Company (Omran), in addition to reviewing the response of the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion to a request for briefing concerning programs aimed at protecting small and medium enterprises and companies affiliated with the Oman Investment Authority. The Bureau further reviewed a request for briefing addressed to the Minister of Housing and Urban Planning regarding the allocation of residential land under usufruct contracts to beneficiaries of bank loans, taking into account their circumstances and the absence of land available for construction.
The Bureau also reviewed the response of the Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation to a request for briefing regarding delays in the equivalency of academic qualifications issued by educational institutions outside the Sultanate of Oman. The response indicated that the Sultanate’s growing openness to the world, reflected in the signing of numerous cooperation agreements in higher education, has led to an increase in the number of Omani students studying abroad, as well as a rise in the number of expatriates residing in Oman, which necessitates verification of academic credentials. The response also outlined the reasons for the extended time required to process equivalency applications for scholarship students and self-funded Omani students, as well as the challenges faced in processing equivalency requests for expatriates. It noted that the Ministry has recently implemented several measures to accelerate equivalency procedures while ensuring quality.
The agenda of the Bureau meeting also included a review of a letter submitted by Council members proposing the formation of a team tasked with monitoring the state of the knowledge economy in the Sultanate of Oman. The proposal included assessing the structural frameworks of this sector within state institutions, the interlinkages among them, and evaluating performance efficiency between innovation inputs and outputs, with the aim of improving performance and reducing the current gap in global performance indicators.