Today the Sultanate celebrates the Omani Teacher’s Day, which falls on 24th of February of each year. On this occasion, Dr Madeeha bint Ahmed bin Nasser al Shaibaniyah, Minister of Education, extended her greetings to all teachers in Oman, appreciating their efforts and dedication in preparing students for a better future.
Dr Al Shaibaniyah said “Education in the Sultanate enjoys a great interest and diligent follow-up from His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik. The Higher Committee in charge of dealing with the spread of Covid-19, made the decision of applying the blended learning curriculum with a focus on distance education. Accordingly, the Ministry of Education has laid the foundations and controls needed to implement blended education, activate the E-learning as a central component of the educational process, and take precautionary measures to ensure the safety of teachers, students and the school environment.
She also indicated that the current school year is an exceptional year and said, “The current school year is an exceptional year in every sense of the word. The educational process has not faced a difficult challenge as the one currently facing, but what you have made sacrifices in order to educate your students since the beginning of the pandemic. We are very proud of your remarkable role in educating students about the importance of adhering to health procedures, your positive interaction with electronic educational platforms, and your great effort in producing educational content.”
In the current academic year 2020/2021, the total number of teachers in public schools reached 56,827 of whom 48,176 were Omani. Female teachers formed the highest percentage of 72.96 per cent while the male teachers formed 27.03 per cent of the total number. The statistics indicated that the largest number of Omani teachers are concentrated in North al Batinah Governorate, with 10,103 teachers.
The Ministry of Education was keen to enhance the knowledge of the Omani teachers and provide them with the necessary skills to face the challenges of Covid-19, which requires providing them with the knowledge and methods necessary to develop their level of performance in the field of distance education.
The ministry is also keen on qualifying teachers by providing opportunities for candidacy to obtain academic qualifications in postgraduate programmes for masters or doctoral degrees in accordance with the approved nomination controls set by the ministry in cooperation with universities and colleges inside and outside the Sultanate.
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