MUSCAT : Organised by Oman Authority for Academic Accreditation and Quality Assurance of Education (OAAAQA), the system aims to encourage educational institutions to build their internal systems to ensure quality, which contributes to achieving the ‘Oman 2040’ vision, in which education is the first priority.

H.E. Dr. Jokha bint Abdullah Al Shukaili, CEO of OAAAQA, said in her speech during the launch ceremony that this system is a new achievement for the country, its people and their future, pointing out that sincere efforts were made to prepare, review and examine it.

Her Excellency stated that the Authority has been working within its national responsibility to ensure quality of education since its establishment in 2010 as an independent body, where it was entrusted with the responsibility of improving the higher education sector.

Her Excellency pointed out that the school performance evaluation system was built through specialized local and international efforts, benefiting from the national experience in improving education, and from the latest developments in international and regional education quality systems, so that it is comprehensive of the most important elements of school education quality, taking into account the objectivity, transparency and neutrality that the Authority has been keen to establish in all its activities concerned with ensuring the quality of education.

Speaking on the occasion, H.E. Dr. Abdullah bin Khamis Ambusaidi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education for Education, stated that the evaluation of school performance will be conducted by an external body that provides indicators to the Ministry of Education about the strengths and aspects that need development in public or private schools. He added that the Ministry is a partner in this aspect and will provide all support and assistance to the OAAAQA to carry out its roles to the fullest extent and work to raise the level of schools in the Sultanate of Oman.

The ceremony concluded with an open discussion session that discussed the national system for evaluating school performance, with the participation of Dr. Thuraya bint Saif Al Hosni, Director General of the Education Quality Assurance Center, Dr. Marco Coles from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and Dr. Khalid Al Baker, Director of the School Review Department at the Education and Training Quality Authority in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

During the session, they discussed the challenges and opportunities in improving the quality of education, the importance of cooperation between different institutions to achieve the goals of good education, and the role of the national system for evaluating school performance in the Sultanate of Oman in improving and enhancing the educational process in schools.

The National School Performance Evaluation System is based on a multi-level evaluation scale that includes following criteria: “Outstanding” is given to effective and outstanding practices that can be emulated; “Good” to high-quality and effective practices; “Adequate” to acceptable practices that achieve the minimum level of quality; and “Inadequate” to schools that do not achieve the minimum level of quality. It requires rapid intervention for schools that provide practices below the minimum level and require urgent intervention to improve their performance.

The system is based on eight main performance evaluation tools, including comprehensiveness, impact measurement, student centricity, national and international standards, accuracy of procedures, transparency, neutrality, improvement and accountability.

The system also comes within a comprehensive strategy to enhance the efficiency of school education institutions, whether governmental or private, through accurate review processes and comprehensive reports that contribute to improving school performance, based on a set of standards and indicators that must be met.

The Authority has been keen to develop these standards and indicators that are consistent with national goals and visions, skills and competencies, and are required by the labour market and the changes that the educational arena is constantly witnessing.

The ceremony, which was held at the Kempinski Hotel, was attended by a number of Their Highnesses, ministers, members of the State Council, undersecretaries and those concerned with the education sector.

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