News & Event

The Ministry of Education, represented by the Omani National Commission for Education, Culture and Science and the Specialized Institute for Professional Training for Teachers, in cooperation with the UNESCO Regional Office for the Gulf States and Yemen in Doha, organized a seminar on preparing a guide to enhance the concepts of sustainable development in the school environment, under the patronage of HE Majid bin Said Al Bahri, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education for Administrative and Financial Affairs. The four-day seminar took place at Grand Hormuz Hotel and comes on the sidelines of celebrating the international day of education which this year holds the slogan “Artificial Intelligence and Education: Preserving the Effectiveness of Human Will for a Robotic World”

The opening of the seminar was attended by a number of advisors and directors general at the Ministry of Education, supervisors, and teachers from various educational directorates in the governorates. The opening ceremony of the seminar included a speech by the Specialized Institute for Professional Training for Teachers, delivered by Dr. Intisar Ambosaidi, Director-General of the Institute, in which she indicated that the Sultanate of Oman is an inspiring model in empowering teachers by enhancing professional development, and in recognition of its importance as the cornerstone of the educational process, and a major driver for achieving sustainable development goals.

Ambosaidi stressed that the Sultanate of Oman, represented by the Ministry of Education, has established the Specialized Institute for Professional Training for Teachers, which is a beacon of excellence in preparing teachers and refining their skills. It has also developed comprehensive plans to develop their skills and professional and cognitive abilities through strategic training programs; aiming to enhance their professional and cognitive abilities; enabling them to employ digital education tools and electronic platforms and lead educational development within schools.

Then, Dr. Mahmoud Al-Abri, Secretary of the Omani National Commission for Education, Culture and Science, delivered the Commission’s speech in which he said: “International and regional organizations concerned with education, culture and science, such as UNESCO, ICESCO and ALECSO, continue their efforts to promote the ethical and effective use of artificial intelligence in education, and to develop frameworks and policies that integrate advanced technology in the fields of education, culture and scientific research, with a focus on ensuring the responsible and fair use of these technologies. UNESCO has launched and published many important documents, such as: the framework for competencies in artificial intelligence for students and teachers in 2024, and the guidelines for the use of generative artificial intelligence in education and research in 2023. The organization also supports many leading research centers in the field of artificial intelligence. ICESCO has established a specialized center for technology and innovation to support member states in employing artificial intelligence, and many guidelines and frameworks concerned with integrating the use of artificial intelligence in education, which contribute to designing innovative educational curricula, and launching training programs concerned with building national capacities in fields such as health, education, cultural diversity, and social and natural sciences.”

Following this, Dr. Anas Buhilal, a program expert at UNESCO, delivered a speech in which he addressed UNESCO’s call for the fair and comprehensive application of technology in education. UNESCO has implemented several initiatives in this field, including: the (Artificial Intelligence Ethics Recommendations) project, the (Futures of Education Initiative), and the (Global Education Monitoring Report). Through these initiatives, UNESCO emphasizes the importance of harnessing artificial intelligence to ensure that education continues to empower individuals in a world that increasingly depends on automation.

Dr. Saud Al Amri, Senior Information Systems Specialist at the Directorate-General of Information Technology at the Ministry of Education, presented the main working paper entitled: “The Sultanate of Oman’s Efforts in the Field of Artificial Intelligence Applications in Education,” in which he discussed the Ministry’s efforts to integrate artificial intelligence technologies into school education, including: (issuing the executive program for artificial intelligence), (preparing a package of training programs targeting administrators and teachers in this field), as well as (preparing a specialized team of certified trainers), and (integrating these technologies into the Ministry’s information systems).

It is worth noting that this year’s International Day of Education aims to study the new potential provided by artificial intelligence, especially with regard to teaching, learning, assessment, and educational management, and to enhance the development of literacy in the field of artificial intelligence by providing teachers and learners with the necessary competencies to understand and use artificial intelligence techniques and tools. The seminar held on the sidelines of the Ministry’s celebration of this day aims to enhance awareness of the importance of including sustainable development concepts in the educational process, and to produce an initial draft of a guide with the participation of experts in the field of education and sustainable development from UNESCO, a number of researchers and academics, supervisors, and teachers.