@zainabalnassri
Blended education is going smoothly at schools across the Sultanate amid COVID-19 pandemic as per the royal directives of His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik.
Implementing the decisions of the Supreme Committee, the academic year 2020-2021 began on November 1 with a mission to achieve a number of goals including reducing loss of school days, setting up a specific mechanism for special education programmes, and harmonizing evaluation of students attending online classes.
The ministry has also worked to ensure the safety of students and staff in accordance with the COVID-19 protocol. Lessons are broadcast on Oman TV according to a plan prepared and organized by the ministry.
The ministry has published approximately 318 textbooks for students and teachers. For the first time, science in the ninth grade will be subdivided into physics, chemistry, and biology. The same subdivision will be done for the tenth grade during the next academic year.
To ensure smooth online education, the ministry has coordinated with telecommunications companies in the Sultanate to strengthen internet service in some areas. To ease web traffic, 11am to 2 pm is allotted for 1-4 grade students, while 8am to 11pm is for 5-11 graders.
As for the twelfth-grade students, classes are held from 8 am to 2 pm. However, the schools have been given the flexibility to change timings after coordination with the educational directorates.
As per the statistics, 676,943 students are attending classes this academic year. Of the total number, 342,054 are boys (50.5 percent) and 334,889 girls (49 percent). The total number of schools is 1,182, of which 369 are for boys, 218 for girls, and 595 for both boys and girls.
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