Muscat: Occupational Standards Centre (OSC) under the Ministry of Manpower issued a licence to Oman Society for Petroleum Services (Opal) to establish the first of its kind Sector Skills Unit (SSU) for the oil and gas sector in Oman at a ceremony held at the headquarters of Ministry of Manpower on Tuesday.
This comes as a translation of the efforts of the Ministry of Oil and Gas represented in the Human Resources Committee for the In-Country Value Programme (ICV) in its initiatives to develop national workforce through the development of occupational standards for the sector.
The move resulted in the adoption of this approach at the national level as one of the labour market and employment initiatives in the National Programme for Enhancing Economic Diversification(Tanfeedh) through the occupational Standards Centre at the Ministry of Manpower.
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The licence is the first of its kind in Oman and aims to prepare the entities for monitoring the needs of the labour market in every sector, and translating them into knowledge products that align education and training outcomes with these needs.
The sectoral skills units are based in their work on developing what are called occupational standards, which are an accurate standardized description of the profession, which defines the competencies, knowledge and skills that must be available to the business operator to accomplish his duties masterfully. After that, the material for these standards can be used to develop numerous applications for qualifications and training programmes, evaluation and occupational licensing frameworks, which will raise the quality of training on one hand and the quality of practical practice on the other.
The development of Occupational standards is also proceeded by the development of a occupational map for the sector, clarifying its divisions in terms of work areas and groups of different professions and jobs, in addition to the research work expected from the units to do to analyze and monitor current and future work indicators in the sector, and the profession and skills gap between its requirements and the outputs of education and training.
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His Excellency Salem bin Nasser Al Awfi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Oil and Gas, explaining that the establishment of an SSU for the oil and gas sector said, “The initiative comes in line with the directions of the development programme of the ICV committee supervised by the Ministry of Oil and Gas. It also serves one of the principal goals that the Ministry seeks to achieve; that is developing the competence and capabilities of national workforce so they can meet the labor market needs and requirements. This can only be achieved through a close partnership between all the parties concerned, towards supporting Omanisation in the oil and gas sector.”
As one of Tanfeedh initiatives, the OSC is mandated to support the establishment of SSUs as sectoral industry-representative bodies.
Speaking on occasion, Dr Mohamad Al-Najjar, Director of OSC said, “Developing the industry ready local workforce is of utmost importance for the success of Omanisation efforts. OSC will be regulating the development of the National Occupational Standards (NOS) and its applications through SSUs to align the skill development efforts in the Sultanate to meet industry demands.”
On behalf of Opal Board Chairman, Dr Hamoud Al Toobi thanked OSC for selecting Opal as the hosting organisation for the SSU in the oil and gas sector.
He said, “The SSU will support Opal’s efforts to bring standardisation and industry co-operation in skill development for the sector.”
Speaking about the National Occupational Standards (NOSs), he said, “NOSs capture the performance standards practiced in the industry, and these become the foundation for the skill development programmes, resulting in a productive workforce for the industry.”
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