Muscat: Indian schools in Oman can assess on a weekly basis whether they wish to switch between online, hybrid, or in-person learning for their students.
The news comes after Indian School Muscat recently moved to online-only classes after plans had been drawn up for one of the biggest community schools in the country to switch to physical classes for the more senior students, and hybrid learning for everyone else.
“A lot of parents and children only came back from their holidays this week, so it was decided to observe their health status before reverting to physical classes,” said an official of the Board of Directors of Indian Schools in Oman. “We will observe how children do in online classes for now, and the school management committee will be taking a decision on learning modes in a few days’ time.
“The issue with ISM is that it is our largest school, so it might not be possible to accommodate all the students physically, but with the other schools that have lesser numbers, it is easier for them to maintain social distancing and other procedures,” he added.
“Schools can therefore choose the mode of learning they wish to use,” he explained. “This can be done on a week-by-week basis. However, all decisions on learning modes must be first approved by the Ministry of Education. Only then can the schools go ahead with their plans. For example, if a school is currently engaged in hybrid learning, and needs to switch to online modes for the next week, they first need to clear this with the ministry.”
Ahead of the decision to transition back to online learning, ISM issued a circular last Friday to the same effect to all students.
“All students are expected to be present in their respective Google classrooms with their cameras on. They need to be responsive to their teachers and write their notes up to date,” said the circular. “If anyone does not have the access to his/her Google Classroom, they may contact his/her class teacher immediately.”
