On the eve of the celebrations of Omani Women's Day on October 17, the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) released a special publication 'Omani Woman 2017' - third edition as part of its series on community statistics.
In recognition of the pioneering role played by women in the development, October 17 was proclaimed by His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said as Omani Women's Day. In this special publication, NCSI has highlighted the achievements made by Omani women in various areas. It showed that the number of women in the Sultanate during the year 2017 has reached 1,241,605, with female illiteracy rates dropping to 8.4% as they had equal opportunities for higher education as men.
It has showed that there were good indicators of the health status of women in the Sultanate as well as enrollment of women in the job market, where they have reached 41% in the public sector and 25% in the private sector. In Oman, there are 102 males per 100 males. The number of females is 1,241,605 and the number of males is 1,263,764 it said.
On the educational situation, the NCSI publication 'Oman Women' showed a decrease in illiteracy rates of females from 12.6% in 2013 to 8.4% in 2017. As illiteracy rates declined, the number of students enrolled in literacy centers also decreased from 10,216 in the 2013/2014 academic year, when 96% were females, to 6,935 in the academic year 2016/2017 when 79.5 % were females. In pre-school education, the number of female students enrolled in kindergartens reached 38,802 in the academic year 2016/2017 compared to 33,654 in the academic year 2013/2014.
Their number is almost the same of those of enrolled males at this level of education during this period, it said. About school education, according to the data for the academic year 2016/2017, there are no gaps in the number of students enrolled in education, and the level of parity is high with the gender parity index. In the academic year 2016/2017, the total number of female students in public schools was 280,400 while their total number in private schools was 46,682. The total enrollment rate for females was 101.2% for the academic year 2016/2017 in grades 1-6, 101% in grades 7-9 and 96.4% in grades 10-12.
In higher education, female students comprise 53.7% of the total admissions for the 2015/2016 academic year, which is a decline of 7.5% compared to 2013/2014 academic year, which reached 59.3%. This is in comparison to the ratio of female students among the total graduates in the year 2013/2014 when they were 56%, said the NCSI data as disseminated in the special publication on 'Omani Women.'
About health and reproductive health status of Omani women, the NCSI publication said that the life expectancy at birth for women increased from 78.5 years in 2013 to 79.2 years in 2017. Omani women are expected to live nearly four years more than Omani men do. This indicator is seen as normal in most societies where women live longer than men are.
The number of live births for both sexes increased in 2013 and 2017. Their proportions remained equal. According to the NCSI data, there were 51% live births of males and 49% of females.
The crude mortality rate remained steady at 2.9 deaths per 1000 population for both 2013 and 2017, while the number of male deaths was 3,860 in 2013, reaching 4,266 in 2017, and 2,420 female deaths in 2013 to reach 2,973 cases in 2017. In terms of diseases, the publication 'Omani Women' reported that the number of cases of HIV infection in females reached 48 in 2017, up from 28 in 2013, while the number of deaths from HIV decreased from 10 in 2013 to 5 in 2017.
The data also indicate that the proportion of women with diabetes increased from 51% of the total patients in 2013 to 53% in 2017. About the reproductive health, the number of women enrolled in antenatal care clinics increased by 7% during 2013 and 2017, with 83,482 women enrolled in 2013 to increase to 89,336 in 2017. There was also a decrease in the proportion of women who visited pregnancy clinics four times or more from 79% in 2013 to 77% in 2017. The ratio of mothers who received care cover during pregnancy reached more than 99% in 2017.
The incidence of anemia among women registered in antenatal clinics was 22.6% in 2013, which increased to 26.7% in 2017. The incidence of diabetes among pregnant women increased from 5% in 2013 to 15% in 2017. With regard to birth spacing, the NCSI publication showed that the rate of increase of new patients in birth spacing clinics increased by 7% during the period from 2013 to 2017.
Women in the age group of 30 - 39 are the largest group of visitors to these clinics. Omani women continued to maintain their participation in the job market as they entered various sectors and moved to senior management positions. The percentage of female employees increased from 31% of the total Omani workforce in the public and private sector in 2013 to 33% in 2017. The gender parity index in the manpower was 0.44 for males in 2017.
The percentage of females in the public sector was 41% in 2017. The ratio of Omani women in administrative positions in the civil service remained constant at 21% in the years 2013-2017. The percentage of newly recruited females in the public sector was 61% of the total number of new Omani nationals in 2017. In the private sector, the statistics of the NCSI publication showed that the proportion of female workers in this sector in 2017 was 25%, which is an increase of 4% from 2013. Women are 15% of those who are retired and enrolled in retirement funds in 2017. According to the data, 46% of female employees leave their jobs by resigning.
It also showed that Omani women enjoy social protection. They were 59% of the total number of beneficiaries in 2017. Of the total beneficiaries, 14% are divorced women, 7% are widows and 3% are unmarried. The number of cases of prevention from marriage in Dar al Wifaq of the Ministry of Social Development was 49 in 2017.
There were five cases recorded of abuse. They were taken to Dar al-Wefaq on court order. The cases of family counseling increased from 20 in 2013 to 57 in 2017. The total number of women in the care center for the elderly in Rustaq was 10. The ratio of women with disabilities who had disability cards was 35%. The number of Women's Development Centers in the Sultanate reached 4 with 263 members. The number of members of the Omani women's associations reached 6,138.
Among those who died in road accidents, women were 21%. Among those who were injured in such accidents, there were 27% women. The percentage of new licenses issued for females increased from 37% of total new licenses in 2013 to 41% in 2017. There were 68 females who got new driving licenses for every 100 males in 2017.
Omani women have registered a strong presence in public life, with 6.6% in the Council of Ministers and 3 women ambassadors. Omani women constituted 9% of the total members of the State Council and 7 female members of municipal councils. The NCSI publication 'Omani Women' also said that lands were also granted by the government for women. The number of land granted to women was 16,226 in 2017.
It is worth noting that the publication (Omani Women 2017) - third edition is available on the website of the Center www.ncsi.gov.om in the publications field, where it can be downloaded in PDF format.