MUSCAT : The fabricated news report claims schools will remain closed on Thursday, April 18th, due to unstable weather conditions.

TAS clarifies that the news circulating under its banner is entirely false. The Ministry of Education previously announced school closures only up to Wednesday, April 17th. TAS emphasizes that some individuals are maliciously altering their news format to spread misinformation.

This deceitful act, aimed at securing an additional holiday, has raised concerns among higher authorities and within the education sector. TAS advises its followers to be vigilant and identify fake news by looking for inconsistencies. In this case, a different font was used compared to TAS’s standard format.

To add authenticity to their handiwork, the fake news peddlers attempted to copy TAS’ page format by positioning a panel on the right, indicating most-read stories. However, this deviation from the publication’s standard layout, which typically reserves the top right for advertisements followed by most-read news, was another giveaway of the false information.

TAS takes this incident seriously and is pursuing legal action against those responsible for spreading the false information. This misinformation has caused unnecessary concern among parents, students, and education officials.

The false news in circulation altered only the dateline mentioned in an earlier TAS news item to make it seem credible. The news item reads as follows: “Oman Weather: Schools to Remain Closed on Thursday, April 18. In response to unstable weather conditions, authorities have announced the continued suspension of work in schools and the transition to distance learning across all public, private, and foreign schools in all governorates, except for Dhofar and Al Wusta.”

TAS reaffirms its commitment to upholding journalistic integrity and serve public interest by disseminating factual and reliable information.

The Arabian Stories calls on its subscribers, followers and readers to get all the latest updates on the company’s social media channels, including WhatsApp.

For all the latest news from Oman and GCC, follow us on Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn, like us on Facebook and subscribe to our YouTube page, which is updated daily.