MUSCAT: The two-day educational symposium entitled 'Towards sustainable education to enhance future skills' began at Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre here on Wednesday under the auspices of Dr Said bin Mohammed al Saqri, Minister of Economy.
Education experts from international organisations (Unesco, Unicef, ESCWA) concerned with the education sector, academics, researchers and specialists from institutions of higher education and technical and vocational education, specialists in curriculum development, educational supervision, evaluation and teacher training are taking part in the symposium.
The symposium began with a speech by Dr Madeeha bint Ahmed al Shaibaniyah, Minister of Education, in which she said: “Due to the importance of conducting comprehensive educational assessments for the post-pandemic stage, the importance of good compensatory education for all learners, and to benefit from the success stories achieved in light of the spread of the pandemic, this symposium comes as a continuation of the 'Learning loss in the light of the corona pandemic: Its effects and methods of remediation' symposium.
"The outcomes of which contributed to enabling the education system to find a package of alternatives to mitigate educational loss and address its effects according to educational plans that are in line with the global approach in standing up to the challenges faced due to the spread of the pandemic. The Sultanate of Oman, represented by the education sector, took the initiative to participate in many seminars and meetings in order to exchange experiences on the best practices followed by educational systems in the world for the early recovery and post-pandemic phases to ensure the sustainability of education and building stronger and more flexible educational systems that have a greater ability to serve students.”
She added: “Despite the low level of indicators of achieving sustainable development goals, especially the fourth goal related to education, the United Nations report ranked the Sultanate of Oman in the first place among the Gulf Cooperation Council countries in achieving the goals of sustainable development of the United Nations for the year 2022. The report also indicated that the Sultanate of Oman is on the right track in achieving goals related to many aspects, including equality in education, which reflects the pivotal importance of the sustainable development file within the national agenda.”
Dr Rahma bint Ibrahim al Mahrouqiyah, Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, delivered a speech in which she said: “This symposium is full with many positive and progressive ideas, which will undoubtedly have a great impact by way of shedding light on the reality of education in the Sultanate of Oman and anticipating its future features in line with the strategic national plans based on the priorities of Oman Vision 2040.”
She added: “The higher education in the Sultanate of Oman has witnessed, over the past years, steady growth and significant positive transformations that came in line with the rapid global developments in various fields. In this direction, the ministry has taken many steps to support and develop higher education, including paying attention to the training system of professional development, increasing the practical training in higher education institutions, diversifying its sources and linking it to the labour market, supporting the efforts aimed at these institutions to improve the quality of higher education and occupy advanced ranks in international classifications.”
VISION OF EDUCATION
Meanwhile, Stefania Giannini, Unesco Assistant Director-General for Education, gave a televised speech in which she said: "This symposium is indicative of the Sultanate of Oman's vision of education as a cornerstone for achieving a sustainable and more prosperous future, as is evident in Oman's 2040 vision. Covid-19 was a clear call to start the transformation, as our societies have become increasingly more dependent on each other and more connected to each other and the digital revolution affects and increases the pace of change in all aspects of our lives. The climate change and biodiversity loss are also weakening our planet, while inequality is exacerbating the division in our societies. In order to address these issues, we must have discussions about the kind of education we need to have more sustainable, inclusive, resilient and equitable future education, this is in fact the ambition of deciding to reimagine the future together.”
Giannini also stated: “The report issued by the International Committee on the Future of Education is an inspiring and living document, and an invitation to reflect on the current educational systems and how to study the paths of transformation in the first place, it is about acquiring values and transferring knowledge and skills in order to balance our main relationships and our relationships with technology, and of course our relationships with the planet, through new teaching ways, new teaching paradigm, and new curriculum, and a different organisation of learning.”
REFINING SKILLS
After that, a dialogue session was held on the participation of Omani youth in the Unesco World Forum, and the impact of this participation in enhancing their various ideas and knowledge and refining their skills.
Zina al Kindi and Sultan al Hadhrami, two students from Sultan Qaboos Private School, an affiliated school of the ASPnet of Oman Unesco, participated in this session. Hilal al Riyami, who was chosen by Unesco from among Oman’s candidates as the first Omani youth to deliver the outcomes and recommendations of the 41st Unesco General Conference, also participated in this dialogue session.
Dr Sobhi al Taweel, Director of the Future of Learning and Innovation at Unesco, presented the main paper of the symposium, entitled: “Developing new perceptions of our future together – New social contract for education.”
He said: “Concluding any social contract for education requires in the first place a common vision for the general purposes of education. The social contract for education must be based on the basic and organisational principles that determine the structure of education systems, as well as on the work that is being distributed and undertaken in order to build, maintain and improve these systems. Any new social contract for education must be based on two basic principles, namely, ensuring the right to quality education for life, and promoting education as a mutual benefit. The conclusion of a new social contract for education is a critical step in the endeavours to develop new visions of our future together.”
SCIENTIFIC SESSIONS
After that, two scientific sessions were held. The first session was chaired by Dr Bakhait bin Ahmed al Mahri, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation for Research and Innovation. The session focused on 'The reality of education through international reports and educational indicators'. It covered four papers on 'The education quality report in the Arab countries', 'The national education indicators in international reports', 'Policies and indicators of the fourth goal in the Sultanate of Oman' and “Entrepreneurial skills and future jobs in the Sultanate of Oman'.
The second session was chaired by Dr Abdullah bin Khamis Ambosaidi, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Education for Education, which focused on 'The future of education'. It also included the presentation of four papers on 'Response, recovery and reimagining: Global lessons for achieving education results in the Sultanate of Oman after the Covid-19 pandemic', 'Education in Oman Vision 2040', 'Digital transformation in the educational system" and "E-Learning in the light of the corona pandemic'. - ONA
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