News & Event

HE Dr. Madiha bint Ahmed Al-Shaibaniyah, Minister of Education, chaired the second meeting to discuss the plan for expanding vocational and technical education in post-basic education (11-12) for the upcoming academic year 2025/2026, in the presence of Their Excellencies the Undersecretaries of the Ministry, a number of Directors-General of the Ministry’s General Diwan, and the educational directorates in the governorates.

Mohammed Al Wahaibi, Director of the Vocational and Technical Curricula Department at the Directorate-General of Vocational and Technical Education, gave a presentation on the expansion plan for vocational and technical education for grades 11 and 12 for the upcoming academic year 2025/2026. He reviewed the approved foundations for expansion, starting with the decisions and recommendations of the Steering Committee meeting held in October of last year, the Ministry’s annual plan for the year (2025), and the Directorate-General of Vocational and Technical Education’s methodology for preparing the expansion plan for the academic year (2025/2026), which included a study of the number of students in current specializations, and the new specializations proposed by the Ministry of Labor for the academic year (2025/2026), for a number of (2470) school students. Among the proposed specializations are tourism; to support the economy, keep pace with tourism developments, and provide promising opportunities for Omani youth, content creation, and social media management, to support digital transformation, meet market needs, and enhance the position of the Sultanate of Oman in the field of digital media and the creative economy.

The presentation included proposed visions for expanding vocational and technical education for the academic year 2025/2026. The presenter provided three visions: continuing to offer the current approved specializations with the addition of tourism to the expansion and development plan; continuing to offer the current approved specializations with the addition of content creation and social media management within the expansion and development plan; and continuing to offer the current approved specializations with the addition of tourism, content creation, and social media management within the expansion and development plan.

The Ministry's plan to expand vocational and technical education for grades 11 and 12 aims to expand the scope of vocational and technical education by increasing the number of schools and available specializations and aligning curricula with labor market requirements. This will be achieved in cooperation with a number of competent authorities to ensure that curricula comply with international professional standards and the needs of economic sectors. This will also strengthen partnerships with the public and private sectors, to provide an applied learning environment by contracting with private training institutions and providing practical training opportunities for students. It will also raise community awareness of the importance of vocational and technical education through awareness and educational programs in schools, university specialization exhibitions, and participation in events such as the Muscat International Book Fair.