News & Event

The Ministry of Education, represented by the Department of Educational Studies and International Cooperation, in collaboration with Nanning Technological University (NTU) in Singapore, participated in the 2025 Leaders in International Education Program. The four-day program targeted educational leaders, particularly school principals and their deputies, and took place at the university's National Institute of Education.

To get more in details about this program and the participants' impressions, we met with a number of them.

At the beginning, we met with Sheikha Al-Jahwari, Senior Supervisor of School Administration at the Directorate-General of Educational Supervision. She said: “The program is purposeful and distinguished and has contributed to enriching the participants’ experiences and developing their knowledge and job skills, which will help them improve job performance. A set of working papers were presented that were integrated with the job duties of the targeted participants, namely: the educational system in Singapore, goal-oriented school leadership, global models for setting institutional goals, transformational leadership in the 21st century, aligning strategies with institutional goals, adaptive leadership in light of challenges and changing circumstances, global models and frameworks for facing challenges and making decisions (Savin - Snowden DJ), building a collaborative culture to ensure sustainable school successes, as well as a field visit to Gan Eng Seng School, and a field visit to Westwood Primary School.”

Regarding the benefits of the program, Dr. Said Al Shahoumi, School Administration Supervisor at the Educational Supervision Department in Al Dhahirah Governorate, said: “We learned about the Singaporean education system in general, and various topics related to global leadership models, and how to employ them to enhance the roles and tasks of school leadership, goal-oriented leadership, spreading a cooperative culture in the school community, and strengthening community partnerships, which is one of the main areas for enhancing school performance, including improving the performance of educational outcomes. The workshops and dialogue sessions contributed to enhancing my knowledge, leadership skills, ability to think, decision-making, and working to enhance the growth of leaders in schools, enabling them to practice different leadership styles to enhance the quality of education. We also learned how school leadership can actually make a real difference in the quality of education, support student learning, motivation, and personal growth that focuses on discipline and belonging to the country and school, and how to develop creative thinking and problem-solving skills among students and enhance their leadership spirit.”

Badr Al Balushi, Principal of Saud Bin Azzan Al Busaidi Boys School (grades 5-10) in Jalan Bani Bu Hassan in the South Al Sharqiyah Governorate, pointed out what he sought to achieve through his participation in the program, saying: “To gain and transfer the influence and experience of all theoretical and applied practices in Singapore, which will raise the performance level of our educational institutions, develop my leadership skills, and acquire modern practices; so that I am more able to inspire and motivate members of the school community, encourage them to be creative and innovative, and promote a culture of cooperation to achieve the school’s goals, which include improving educational outcomes. I will also hold training sessions for teachers and some colleagues from school leaders to transfer the knowledge and leadership skills I have acquired from the program, and what we have observed during our visits to some schools.”

As for what will be applied to the work field from what was trained in the program, Badriya Al-Siyabi, Principal of Arwa Bint Al-Harith Girls School (grades 9-12), in Rustaq, South Al Batinah Governorate, said: “By transferring the best international practices and adapting them to suit the school environment, by transferring the experiences gained in the program to the work teams in schools through training sessions and meetings, adopting educational leadership that seeks empowerment, building effective work teams, activating professional learning communities aimed at developing and improving teachers’ performance, empowering students by adopting leadership roles that develop in them the sense of responsibility and initiative, and building an effective participatory relationship with the local community while designing effective development initiatives based on data and analysis to enhance academic achievement to advance and achieve the school’s vision and mission.”