This is the first example of Oman's policy to introduce e-Governance, where people will conduct their entire businesses with a public institution, electronically. From April 1 until June 1, 2006, students will be able to apply for upto 20 programmes simply by submitting a single electronic application, from any computer which is connected to the Internet.
In the past, when students got their examination results, they and their parents had to undertake an expensive and time-consuming process to visit many institutions, fill in many application forms, and then had to wait sometimes for weeks, hoping to achieve their aims. In order to make the process much easier and less expensive, the Ministry of Higher Education has decided to centralise the procedures. Accordingly, the Higher Education Admission Centre (HEAC) has been set up to be responsible for the processing of all admissions, using a new computerised system. Centres which have suitable access to the Internet will be available at which applications may be submitted. Through the schools, HEAC will notify students about the nearest local centre at which they may submit their application. The purpose is to ensure that there will be no need for applicants to travel long distances or suffer great expense. Through the schools, HEAC will also distribute a student guidebook. This will provide all the details about the new system.
