News & Event

The Sultanate of Oman, represented by the Ministry of Education, participated in the International Day of Education, which falls on the twenty-fourth of each year, after the United Nations General Assembly approved it in December 2018 to be an international day of education every year, within the framework of supporting efforts aimed at achieving the fourth goal of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals related to education, which is to provide quality, equitable and inclusive education for all, and to enhance lifelong learning opportunities for all. The celebration of this year’s International Day of Education comes under the slogan: “Artificial Intelligence and Education: Challenges and Opportunities.”

On the Sultanate of Oman’s participation with countries around the world in celebrating this occasion, Dr. Mahmoud Al-Abri, Secretary of the Omani National Commission for Education, Culture and Science, said: “The Sultanate of Oman realizes that digital transformation is no longer an option, but rather an inevitable necessity imposed by the variables of the modern era. It represents an essential pillar for achieving economic and social progress and reflects a deep awareness of the importance of smart integration between digital technologies, processes and skills in various sectors and levels.”

Regarding the interest in the digital transformation of the educational process, Al-Abri said: “The National Commission for Education, Culture and Science works with international and regional organizations to integrate artificial intelligence technologies and tools in the fields of education, especially with regard to teaching, evaluation, educational management, and curricula. The Sultanate of Oman has also worked to benefit positively from international organizations in this field, and has established a number of scientific chairs specialized in artificial intelligence and its ethics, such as: the UNESCO Chair at Sultan Qaboos University, and the (ICESCO) Chair at the University of Technology and Applied Sciences, in addition to its participation in international conferences and workshops, and its launch of the National Program for Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Technologies, with the “Artificial Intelligence Makers” initiative with the aim of developing national talents and promoting a culture of innovation. The Sultanate of Oman has achieved remarkable progress in the Government AI Readiness Index, rising to 45^th globally for 2024. The committee is also working in coordination with the Ministry’s AI team to integrate AI technologies into education by activating AI initiatives in coordination with national and international entities to achieve comprehensive digital integration in line with global quality standards, to become a regional center for educational innovation based on AI. The Sultanate of Oman has also achieved progress in the data and infrastructure axis by 77.84%, in the technology axis by 41.29%, and in the governance axis by 69.61%.”

In line with the direction and great interest of His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tariq in using artificial intelligence applications in all sectors, including the education sector; so that the Sultanate of Oman is at the forefront of countries that keep pace with global transformations, the Ministry is making efforts to spread the culture of artificial intelligence in the educational process, by implementing educational and pedagogical programs that enhance the educational process and the acquisition of future skills, which are provided to faculty members and students. Among these efforts: The Ministry has implemented the "Digitization of Curricula" project for grades (1-12) to achieve the objectives of the e-learning and digital transformation strategy, which is concerned with converting the educational content of curricula from its paper form into interactive digital content that can be accessed via the Internet and information and communications technology devices. This project includes a group of interactive educational activities, audio, interactive educational films, educational pieces (Learning Object), as well as animation, educational games, digital stories, virtual reality technologies, augmented reality, and simulation, in addition to advanced types of interactive digital content according to the latest developments and technical developments in this field. The digital book includes interactive digital content according to clear educational objectives and procedures that facilitate the teacher and learner, and varies according to the nature of each subject, and is compatible with the latest technologies, such as: smartphone applications, tablets, and various e-learning environments, in addition to a group of multimedia (digital images, animations, spoken words, etc.).

This project comes with the support of the private sector represented by (BP Oman), as one of its contributions to social investment; with the aim of enriching the content of curricula within the e-learning system and digital repository, by providing various digital educational resources for all educational stages that are compatible with different learner patterns, and making interactive digital content available to beneficiaries of the educational process, starting from the teacher, student and parents, all the way to educational supervisors and researchers interested in the field of education. The plan for this project was built in a manner that is consistent with and coincides with the plan for writing and updating curricula for grades (1-12). The stages of converting books began since the academic year (2022/2023) for grades (1-4), and the first phase of the actual implementation of the project in schools began in the current academic year (2024/2025) in some schools for grades (1-4) in the educational directorates in the governorates.

In continuation of these efforts, the Ministry, represented by the Directorate-General of Information Technology, is implementing a number of plans at the planning levels by forming the National Team for Artificial Intelligence under the umbrella of the Digital Transformation Committee, governing its plan, preparing a draft of the executive program for artificial intelligence in the educational learning process, preparing the plan of the central team for artificial intelligence in the Ministry, forming artificial intelligence teams in the educational directorates in the governorates, preparing their plans, allocating a day for artificial intelligence, meeting with directors of information technology departments in the educational directorates in the governorates, issuing a set of guides, such as: the guide to artificial intelligence tools and awareness of its uses, the guide to Chat GPT and its uses, the guide to (Midjourney) for the user, the guide to artificial intelligence for use in the educational process, implementing (63) training sessions inside and outside the Ministry, from which more than (3268) employees benefited, preparing a set of publications represented by: "Digital Footprint", and (10) publications for "The Smartest Digital", and the participation of a group of team members in local and foreign seminars, events and conferences, and implementing the International Artificial Intelligence License Program (IAIDl) for (30) trainees from various divisions of the Ministry and educational directorates in the governorates, and in the systems and applications, accounts were provided for a group of artificial intelligence tools and applications for a number of directorates and divisions of the Ministry; with the aim of raising efficiency and improving work, from which a number of directorates and consultants benefited.

In the field of IT infrastructure, the Ministry, represented by the Directorate-General of Information Technology, designed, and established an artificial intelligence laboratory in the North Al Batinah Governorate and in the Al ADhahirah Governorate, and signed memoranda of understanding with the Arab Open University, and at a later stage, it will be signed with Sultan Qaboos University, in order to serve the four axes in its general form. As for the school level, the team worked on implementing halls enabled by artificial intelligence in exploration centers, or artificial intelligence halls in schools, and enabling the infrastructure of technical schools (educational technologies).

The National Team for Artificial Intelligence at the Ministry of Education, in cooperation with the UNESCO Chair for Artificial Intelligence at Sultan Qaboos University, launched an initiative to select the best research proposal for employing artificial intelligence in school education. This initiative aims to encourage and motivate researchers and those interested in studies in the field of artificial intelligence to conduct distinctive research studies that include innovative and creative ideas for employing artificial intelligence practically in school education to improve the quality of education and make it more efficient and effective. The UNESCO Chair for Artificial Intelligence at Sultan Qaboos University will evaluate the best research proposals to come up with practical research projects that can be tested and applied practically as a service or product in a real educational environment at the Ministry of Education.

The Ministry is also working on replacing computers (desktop and laptop computers) in government schools - as a first phase - with a total of (43,917) computers for school administration, learning resource centers, computer labs, and classrooms. In the second phase, (6117) computers will be replaced for career guidance centers, the virtual laboratories project, the digital atlas project, training centers. The Ministry is also working on the first trial operation of the new educational platform, and the operation of two curricula digitization projects (first phase): the "Preparing interactive boards for classrooms" project, and starting its implementation for the first grade, and the "Science experiments" project, and implementing digital transformation projects in the Ministry, launching the new version of the Ministry's official website interface, and upgrading Internet networks in all schools to (10) times the previous speed, from (100) megabytes to (1) gigabyte.