Perceptions of multiple stockholders on assessing the physical education programme at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman

Training evaluation forms a key component of educational research aimed at improving the methods and means utilized for training in order to reach the selected demographic. This paper deals with assessing the physical education programme from the perceptions of multiple stockholders at Sultan Qaboos University, by persons related to the program such as lecturers and final year students. Questionnaires were utilized as the primary investigation method, and participants were asked to answer questions related to various aspects of the PEITTFW such as the course content, time allocation for various course components, effectiveness of the course in training future teachers, and the choice of specialist subjects. Opinions to various modifications in the PEITTFW program were also polled and results were mostly pro-reform except in the case of students. There was general consensus that the balance of courses included in the PEITTFW needed to be changed in favour of Subject studies and applied studies. The importance of this research lies in its originality, since it is the first formal attempt to evaluate the initial teacher training programme for women in the Sultanate of Oman. It is, additionally, the first to focus on professional training for Muslim women teacher trainers in an Arab country. This has consequences related to issues of equity in both vocational training and the provision of physical education for Muslim girls in schools.