Staff Reporter
Muscat, Dec 6
Dr Madeeha bint Ahmed al Shaibaniyah, Minister of Education, on Monday received school students from the governorates of Muscat, Al Batinah and Al Dakhiliyah on the occasion of International Children’s Day, which falls on November 12 each year.
Sumayra Choudhury, Representative of UNICEF in the Sultanate of Oman, and Shanuna al Habsi, Assistant Director-General of Special Education, attended the meeting which took place in Oman Hall in the Ministry’s General Diwan.
During this meeting, a dialogue session was held, moderated by Lujain bint Aref al Amri of Sima and Muqzah School for Basic Education in Al Dakhiliyah. The minister welcomed the attendees and the participants and said, “The holding of such sessions is an interactive platform during which the ministry learns about students’ opinions and ideas to build upon and take into account when formulating educational policies. They have new energies, ideas and initiatives that contribute to the development of the ministry’s work, which enhances community building and the development of the educational environment.”
She also indicated that “these dialogue sessions encourage students to ask questions and present their ideas on many issues, allowing them to access a safe space and communication between them and officials, and that listening to them has a positive impact on making many decisions related to their issues and their future aspirations, their curricula, and the innovative and mathematical aspects, especially in the development and modernisation of the educational system in the Sultanate of Oman in all its sectors to translate the goals of Oman Vision 2040, and encourage them to participate in various competitions at the local, regional and international levels.”
During this dialogue session, the students discussed the compatibility of the curricula adopted by the Ministry of Education for students with hearing and visual disabilities, and that the ministry believes in the abilities that these students possess, and that they are treated as much as possible in terms of knowledge like their healthy peers, with the difference in the teaching mechanism, in view of what some of them aspire to, after completing general education, to join higher education institutions, or the labour market, and the cognitive aspects they require. The ministry also seeks, through the digital transformation programme, to find educational technologies that help teachers and students of all categories in the educational process.
The importance of diversifying school activities, especially in grades 1-4, was also discussed. The ministry has also recently put forward a strategy for school sports through the School Sports Federation. The ministry has expanded in the past years in scientific activities through the participation of school students in various competitions, whether at the local, regional or global levels. The ministry also has a framework and plan for cultural activities to give freedom for school administrations to activate these activities, and the ministry is looking forward, during the upcoming plans, to enhance these activities in partnership with the private sector. The ministry as well is about to implement a symposium in cooperation with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning to study the future requirements for school buildings and enhancing them to be an attractive school environment for students.
