News & Event

The Sultanate of Oman, represented by the Ministry of Education, “Department of Innovation and Scientific Olympiads”, took part in the FIRST Global Challenge 2025 competition, with the participation of more than “one hundred and ninety” countries from around the world, in Panama City, in the Republic of Panama.

The Sultanate of Oman is represented by a national team comprising three students qualified for the global competition, from schools in the Al Dakhiliyah Governorate. They are: Ziyad Al Ismaili from Sheikh Ahmed bin Abdullah Al Kindi School, Al Khalil Al Aufi from Bal’arab bin Sultan School, and Al Khalil Al Kindi from Abi Ubaida School. The team is supervised by Ibrahim Al Balushi from the Innovation and Scientific Olympiad Department at the Ministry and led by coach Ahmed Al Aufi from the Innovation and Scientific Olympiad Department in the Al Dakhiliyah Governorate. The national team worked for two consecutive months studying and analyzing the details of this year’s competition challenge, and developing innovative performance strategies that contribute to carrying out the required tasks with the highest levels of efficiency and accuracy. The team also designed, built, and programmed the robot, according to an integrated technical plan developed by the members, benefiting from their expertise in the fields of programming and control. The participation aims to represent the nation in an international technical forum and contribute to raising the name of the Sultanate of Oman in the fields of science and technology, through the design, building, and programming of robots.

Participation in the competition comes as part of the Ministry of Education’s efforts to consolidate the culture of innovation in education and develop students’ skills in the fields of science, engineering, and artificial intelligence, in line with the goals of Oman Vision 2040 in preparing a creative generation that contributes to building a knowledge economy based on innovation and technology.

This year’s competition focuses on protecting biodiversity, with student teams from different countries competing to design robots that compete in an arena that simulates the preservation of natural systems that support human and planetary health. Through this, it contributes to raising awareness of the importance of environmental diversity among young people. This competition is one of the most prominent international competitions in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), and an annual global platform similar to the Olympic Games, held in a different country each year. This initiative comes within the global efforts to highlight the role of science and technology in addressing major environmental and developmental challenges.

The competition aims to enable students to employ their scientific and innovative abilities in building robots capable of performing engineering tasks that simulate contemporary global challenges. The competition seeks to promote understanding and cooperation among the world's youth, and to inspire rising generations to address the issues of planet Earth through innovative scientific and technological solutions.

FIRST Global emphasizes the importance of making science and technology a stimulating and exciting field for young people worldwide, contributing to inspiring two billion young people around the world to choose academic and career paths in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, and preparing them to be future leaders capable of finding innovative solutions to the challenges of planet Earth.