MUSCAT: As Oman prepares to reopen schools in November, Her Excellency Dr. Madiha Ahmed Al Shaibani, the country’s Minister of Education has asked for support from teachers and parents to make the academic year fruitful. 

“We are looking forward to a safe and fruitful academic year but it will need a lot of efforts from the teachers, parents and a lot of collaboration in terms of what goes on inside the classrooms,” the Minister said.

Dr Madiha informed that the academic year 2020/2021 will be a blended learning year, with both online and offline classes to ensure the safety of students, teachers, and staff. “Overall we are starting the academic year with blended learning where one week they (students) will be attending classes from school and the next week they will attend e-learning. This is the approach all the international schools have taken. This is a flexible approach to monitor what is going on in terms of the virus so that we can pull back if there is an issue,” she noted.

According to Ministry of Education, schools are classified into three categories: 

Low-density with 16 students per classper day who will study for three hours a day in school. 

Medium-density schools:  Students who will study for four hours a day in school, with half the total strength attending school one week followed by study from home the next week. 

High-density schools:Students who will study for five hours a day in school, divided over three weeks, whereby students will have one week of blended study followed by two weeks of studying from home. 

Grade 12 studentswill be divided into two groups, studying over two weeks, in the same format as the medium-density schools.

“We have prepared several health protocols in terms of what needs to be happening inside the classrooms. We are working very closely with the Ministry of Health,” the Minister added.