US ETS delegation visits Oman's Ministry of Education

Muscat: The delegation of the United States of America represented by the American Educational Testing Service (ETS), which includes Robert Thorton, Executive Director, Scott Nelson, Senior Vice President, Roy Ferreira, Associate Vice President, and Qudria Ercikan, Vice President, visited Oman’s Ministry of Education recently.

The delegation attended a meeting with the specialists of the Educational Measurement and Evaluation Centre.

The meeting included a presentation explaining the evaluation system in the Sultanate of Oman, the various educational programs applied in the educational system, the structure of the Educational Measurement and Evaluation Center, the mechanism used in the evaluation system, and the mechanism for preparing and managing national tests and general education diploma exams, and its equivalent.

The meeting also included a discussion of mechanisms for developing the assessment system, electronic transformation in applying exams, electronic correction, capacity building, question bank, and programmes for developing teachers’ skills in applying formative assessment tools and developing exam vocabulary preparation skills.

The delegation also visited the General Education Diploma Examination Centre at Sheikh Nasser bin Rashid Al Kharousi School, the General Education Diploma Examination Center at Shatti Al Qurum School for Basic Education, the Muscat Correction Centre at Safia Bint Al Khattab School, and the Central Committee for Education Diploma Examinations.

During the visit, the delegation was briefed on the electronic correction process and the mechanism used in it and listened to a glimpse of the course of work in the implementation of examinations and its procedures.