MUSCAT: In the wake of COVID-19 pandemic, the government has to heavily rely on technology to provide quality and sustainable education, according to Oman’s Minister of Education.

Speaking on the occasion of Omani Teacher’s Day, Her Excellency Madiha bint Ahmed Al Shaibaniah thanked teachers in the country for their dedication amidst the challenges. “It is my pleasure, as we celebrate the Omani Teacher’s Day, to extend our sincere congratulations on this occasion, appreciating your kind efforts, your dedication to fulfilling your lofty educational mission, and your role in preparing your students for a better future for them and our dear country, so Happy Omani Teacher’s Day,” the Minister said.

“The challenges facing the world after the spread of COVID-19 has had a major impact in various areas of life: health, economy, society and so on, and cast a shadow directly on the education sector. Many countries have found innovative solutions and methods for providing educational services that ensures the safety of learners and those in-charge of educational work. Providing quality and sustainable education is now relying heavily on technology and electronic distance education, through interactive educational platforms established for this purpose,” she said.

In light of the current exceptional circumstances, she stressed, “Education in the Sultanate enjoys a great interest and diligent follow-up from His Majesty Sultan Haitham Bin Tarik. The Supreme Committee in charge of dealing with the spread of COVID-19, took 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 e-learning as a central component of the educational process, and take precautionary measures to ensure the safety of teachers, students and school environment.”

“Taking advantage from the best global experiences and practices in education during this pandemic and thanks to the efforts of its employees and sincere bids for teachers, the Ministry adopted two educational platforms: the Mandharah platform for grades (1-4), and the Google classroom platform for grades (5-12) and post-basic education classes,” she added. 
She also indicated, “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. You have been providing lessons through various television channels, participated in training programmes remotely, found innovative methods of teaching, and built learning societies aimed at exchanging educational experiences and experiences, all of this is a proud and very important acquisition for which you deserve major praise and many thanks.”

At the end of her speech, she stated, “The next stage requires you to continue the educational process with efficiency and competence. We need to preserve these gains, and build on them by multiplying efforts in improving educational practices and devising advanced methods to consolidate the principles of self-learning among students. We should work on instilling citizenship values in students, and providing them with accreditation skills on the psyche and scientific research. All that shall lead to preparing a generation capable of interacting with renewed data, and enjoys the skills of the twenty-first century, in line with the objectives of Oman 2040 Vision, which made the development of the educational system and the improvement of its outcomes a fundamental basis for the comprehensive development of the country.”