Muscat: The Sultanate, represented by the Ministry of Education, on Wednesday participated in the regional ministerial meeting which discussed the issue of the reopening of schools in the Arab countries which was held via video conferencing with the participation of ministers of education from the Middle East and North Africa region, directors of UN agencies, the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization, the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) and the Arab Bureau of Education for the Gulf States (ABEGS).
The meeting was aimed at identifying countries’ decisions, preparedness and the challenges related to the new academic year as well as identifying the major fields of cooperation on the national and regional levels to support the schoolchildren and compensate them for missed education days and ensure education for every child during the new academic year.
The meeting also aimed to contribute to the national decision-making about the best ways to start the academic year 2020-2021 in a safe environment for the students, teachers and community members.
Dr Madeeha bint Ahmed al Shaibaniyah, Minister of Education delivered a speech in which she explained that the Sultanate managed to take the necessary measure and found workable solutions to end the academic year 2019-2020 by adopting suitable alternatives and assessment mechanisms for calculating the students’ results for the students of grade 1 to 11 and has appied the internationally applicable statistical standards in the evaluation of grade 12 students.
With regard to the academic year 2019-2020, the minister of education said the ministry decided to take this academic year as an exceptional year for the blended learning as the students will receive part of their education in the schools while other classes will be conducted remotely through TV channels and educational platforms thus realizing the goals of the Oman Vision 2040 and its objectives to ensure an equitable and compressive education that enhances the student’s scientific innovation.
Al Shaibaniyah explained the efforts made by the ministry of education through issuing a general framework to reopen the schools with specific measures and guidelines benefiting from the best regional and international practises. The general framework includes a set of preventive measures that should be applied by schools in order to ensure the safety of the students and the teaching and administrative staff. These include reducing classroom density, shortening the school day and modifying the educational plan. — ONA
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