The Ministry of Social Development (MoSD) on Sunday launched the 'National Guides for Childhood' as part of a project to improve services provided in nurseries in cooperation with the Arab Gulf Program for Development (AGFUND). The event was held under the auspices of Dr Hilal bin Ali al Sabti, Minister of Health, and attended by Dr Laila bint Ahmed al Najar, Minister of Social Development.
A guide to national standards for nurseries and their classification in the Sultanate of Oman was developed to guide those responsible for nurseries on the standards that should be ensured and will contribute to improving the conditions of existing nursery institutions.
Dr Nasser bin Bakr al Qahtani, Executive Director, AGFUND, said: “Launching the national guides for childhood is a major move in the right direction. The project targets children based on a scientific perspective and it accommodates the needs of this basic segment of society. The childhood category is one of the most important groups targeted by the AGFUND programme with its development mission through the criteria it applies in selecting the projects to supports and finances so that they respond to the requirements of sustainable human development.”
The national childhood guides include six guides: the National Standards Guide for Nurseries, the Nursery Activities Guide for the first level from birth to one year of age, the Nursery Activities Guide for the second level from one to two years of age, and the Nursery Activities Guide for the third level from two to three years of age, the health care guide, and parental care guide.
Maryam al Obaidani, Head of the Early Childhood Department at the Ministry of Social Development, said, "The guides are in the application stage and will be given an opportunity to apply and then evaluation will take place. After the evaluation, the guides will be developed in accordance with international and global developments, and female workers have been selected for training in the programme in accordance with the standards and their preparation to contribute in improving the conditions and the quality of nursery institutions.”
The event coincided with the graduation of the second batch of the training programme for child supervisors working in childhood education institutions. 90 graduates from the second batch of the training programme for supervisors working in childhood education institutions were feted. The graduates were trained through the internationally accredited training program in early childhood care and education for female workers in childhood development institutions at the National Institute for Childhood in the Sultanate of Oman.
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