News & Event

The New Teachers Program is one of the strategic programs offered by the Specialized Institute for Professional Training of Teachers. It targets new Omani teachers in government schools in all educational governorates. The content of this program is linked to the Omani context and the future outlook for education in line with Oman Vision 2040.

The overall goal of the program is to develop the performance of teachers, enabling them to acquire advanced knowledge and skills in their field, discover new teaching methods, learn about different assessment strategies for learning, understand future skills, and learn how to effectively use active learning strategies in the classroom; thereby contributing to improving learning opportunities for all students, supporting, and developing teaching and learning practices in the school.

The new teachers' program is implemented over one academic year, comprising two training modules delivered over two semesters. The program utilizes three training methods: face-to-face training, e-learning, and on-the-job learning. The 2025/2026 academic year witnesses the program's twelfth cohort, aiming to train approximately 3,500 teachers across the Sultanate of Oman. This will bring the total number of trainees in the program to date to 28,163, underscoring the ongoing efforts to enhance the competence of new teachers and provide them with practical and professional development.

Regarding the inclusion of the Diploma in Professional Practices for Educators in the (New Teachers) program as the first professional qualification at level eight of the National Qualifications Framework, Haifa Al Lawati, Director of the Assessment and Accreditation Department at the Specialized Institute and Head of the Committee for the Inclusion of the (New Teachers) Program, explained: “The National Qualifications Framework Guide issued by the Oman Authority for Academic Accreditation and Quality Assurance of Education indicated that inclusion is: “The process of evaluating an Omani qualification against the inclusion criteria in the National Qualifications Framework and the descriptive parameters of the framework levels, to determine the level and the amount of credit credited to the entire qualification in the framework, according to the descriptive elements, in order to determine its overall level within the framework.” In simple terms, inclusion means registering officially recognized qualifications in the (National Qualifications Register), which is managed by the Oman Authority for Academic Accreditation and Quality Assurance of Education. This register serves as a “national identity card for qualifications,” showing the qualification level, its field, and the standards on which it is based, and contributes to unifying the understanding of qualifications at the national level, based on international standards.”

Haifa Al Lawati added: Since the issuance of the National Qualifications Framework, the Specialized Institute for Professional Training of Teachers has taken the initiative to review its programs to ensure their compatibility with this framework. The specialists in the Authority were contacted to obtain the necessary training, and then the impact of the training was transferred intensively during the past two years, within the framework of seeking to include the programs in the national register. In this context, a committee was formed specializing in the (New Teachers) program by a ministerial decision. This committee included in its membership specialists from the Institute and academics from higher education institutions in the Sultanate of Oman.

The Diploma in Professional Practices for Educators in the (New Teachers) program is the first professional qualification at level eight to be included in the National Qualifications Register. This inclusion is a national recognition of the quality of training provided by the institute, which in turn enhances the program's status as a nationally accredited qualification. The inclusion contributes to enabling new Omani teachers to obtain an officially recognized qualification that ensures its long-term quality and enhances the community's confidence in the quality of in-service preparation that Omani teachers receive. At the same time, it allows academic institutions and relevant authorities to view the standards on which this program is based. The competent committee worked on reviewing and evaluating the qualification's description according to the standards of the National Framework and was able to officially include it at level eight. This achievement is a pioneering step that contributes to the development of the education system in the Sultanate of Oman.

The Specialized Institute seeks to gradually include the rest of its programs in the National Qualifications Register, in addition to communicating with specialized international institutions to obtain international certifications in accordance with global quality standards for continuous professional development. This contributes to raising the quality level of its programs at the local and international levels.

Khamis Al-Masrouri, a trainer in the New Teachers Program and a member of the committee for including the (New Teachers) Program, said: “We congratulate the Ministry of Education in general, and the Specialized Institute for Professional Training of Teachers in particular, on including the qualification of the Diploma in Professional Practices for Educators in the (New Teachers) Program, which is a great achievement that we are proud of, and a very important strategic step to ensure the quality of training programs and enhance their alignment with the requirements of professional work in the educational field. There is no doubt that this achievement will enhance confidence in the competence of those in charge of the training process and in the quality of the programs provided by the Specialized Institute based on identifying the competencies, knowledge and skills required for each training level.”

Through the implementation of this program, the Specialized Institute for Professional Training of Teachers affirms its full commitment to embodying the directives of HE the Minister of Education and her continuous support for developing and qualifying educational competencies in accordance with the latest trends and modern educational practices. The Institute also continues, through its quality and innovative programs, its tireless efforts to elevate the Omani teachers and enhance their professional capabilities, in a way that contributes to developing the educational process and achieving the visions and goals of the national educational system.