The University of Portsmouth has signed a contract to train military engineers in Oman. The government-funded college expects to enrol 1,000 students in September, and up to 4,200 students will be trained in total, the university said. Earlier In April, the Portsmouth university authorities announced that it had won a “prestigious contract” to help develop four military engineering degrees for Oman’s Military Technological College.
But a campaign group from UK has criticized the move from the Portsmouth University. A UK-based organization, Campaign Against Arms Trade, warned that the deal would enable “internal repression”. A spokeswoman from the Campaign Against Arms Trade said that the military engineers would be “using, supporting and maintaining” the country’s weapons - including warships, fighter jets and small arms sold to Oman by the UK.
But, Djamel Ait-Boudaoud, dean of Portsmouth’s faculty of technology, out rightly rejected this criticism and explained that Oman was a “major strategic and business partner of the United Kingdom”.
Military engineering studies- a new chapter in Oman |
“The university’s involvement in the country will strengthen Portsmouth’s engagement in the Middle East, where we have long been a destination of choice for students looking for advanced training in engineering and technology,” he said.
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