The population of the Sultanate of Oman has increased by 0.4% between 2012 and 2016 in which the number of children below 17 years by mid-2016 is recorded to be 1,006,651. This is 41.5% of the total population, according to a data released by the Centre. This is being seen as a positive indicator of country's achievements in the childcare.
These statistics which are released about children are first in the series of social statistics issued by the NCSI during 2018. They show that the birth rate rose by 21.8% between 2012 and 2016 to be 33.7 live births per thousand, while the total fertility rate of women was 4% in the age group of 15 and 49 years compared with 3.7 live birth to a woman in the year 2012. In 2016, the infant mortality rate was 11.7 children per 1,000 live births, while the under-5 mortality rate was 9.2 children per 1,000 live births. The proportion of children born below the normal birth weight decreased slightly in recent years, reaching to 9.4% in 2016, compared with 9.5% in 2012, whereas the ratio of children under five years of age who suffer from calorie-related malnutrition reached to 1.8% in 2016, which was 4.6% in 2012.
The number of diarrheal diseases among children under five years of age, as registered by the Ministry of Health, was 232 per 1,000 children in 2016, compared with 254 in 2012. A total 92 cases of overweight and obesity among children under five were registered in 2016. Of them 67.4% were male and 32.6% were female. About 47% of children under 5 years of age were found obese in North Batinah governorate, followed by 13% in South Bathinah and 11% in North Sharqiya. There were no such cases registered in Musandam and Al Wusta governorates. The number of children with disabilities was 8,381 children in the year 2016. It was 24% of disabled cardholders. Al-Wafa Rehabilitation Centres for Disabled Children receives both male and female children between the age group of 2-14 who have various disabilities, such as minor and moderate mental disabilities, and disabilities in movement. The number of these centres has reached to 26 centers which is spread in all governorates of the Sultanate where there were 1,994 children enrolled by the end of 2016.In addition, there are 11 centers of the Association for the Welfare of Handicapped Children where 360 children were enrolled in 2016; of them 208 were male and 152 female.
In regards with the situation of education, the data for the academic year 2015/2016 indicates that the number of students enrolled in schools reached 567,607, which is a gross enrollment rate of 101.4% in class 1 to 9 and 95.4% in class 10-12. The net enrollment ratio for class 1-6 was 98.3%. For class 7-9, it was 95.6% whereas for class 10-12, it was 85.6%. During the academic year 2016/2017, there were 48,630 students enrolled in kindergartens who constituted 4.8% of the total children of the Sultanate. Around 96% of children of the country were enrolled in the kindergartens of private schools. In regards with the social situation of Omani children in 2016, the number of the children who were enrolled in Omani Women Association's facilities was 6,997 children. The number of children enrolled in nurseries reached to 8,100 whereas the number of children enrolled in the child development homes was 1,287. There were 439 children enrolled in the rural development centres, 269 with the nursing families and 135 in the childcare centre.
As far as the cultural care is concerned, the number of children who visited museums reached to 42,029 in 2016. Majority of them with 82% visited the National Museum, the Children's Museum, the Sultan's Armed Forces Museum and the Museum of Natural History. The television and radio broadcasting hours for children's programs was 2,468 hours in 2016. The ratio of such government and private television programs reached to 86%. With regard to the security situation, the number of juvenile offenders in the age group of 9-17 years was 765, which is 3.7% of the total number of offenders in 2016. It is a decrease of 12.7% over the number of year 2015. From among these juvenile delinquents, 95% male were found involved in money related crimes. Their number increased by 49.3% in 2016 compared with 48.7% in 2015.
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