Thursday 14 / November / 2024
Muscat: The return to schools for the new academic year “2023/2024” began on Sunday morning, with the supervisors, members of the educational and administrative bodies, related positions, and support groups starting their work in the schools of the Sultanate, in preparation for ringing the school bells to welcome their students on Tuesday.
Dr. Sulaiman bin Abdullah Al-Jamudi, Director-General of the Directorate-General of Educational Supervision, spoke about receiving the new teachers, saying:“The Ministry of Education, represented by the Directorate-General of Educational Supervision, has adopted several mechanisms for receiving new teachers, the most prominent of which is the introduction programme for new teachers in areas of current residence. The programme aims to create positive attitudes towards the teaching profession, empower new teachers, and support their professional growth in learning and teaching processes, in addition to providing new teachers with knowledge, and functional skills to prepare them for practicing the learning and teaching processes.”
In the same aspect, Dr. Intisar Ambosaidi, Director-General of the Specialised Institute for Vocational Training for Teachers, said: “The Specialised Institute for Vocational Training for Teachers, within its training plan for the academic year 2023/2024, is implementing the strategic programme for new Omani teachers. The programme targets new Omani teachers in public schools, and its general objective is to develop their performance to become effective and creative teachers who discover new teaching methods to improve learning opportunities for all students in their classes.”
Talal bin Nasser Al-Adawi, Assistant Director-General of the Directorate-General of Administrative Affairs for Human Resources Development, said: “The Directorate has included in its plans a set of ideas and visions, which will undoubtedly contribute to strengthening the Ministry’s efforts to prepare and motivate new teachers, as the Directorate has striven in coordination with the private sector institutions to obtain benefits and offers that can be presented to this category of teachers, where coordination has been made with some local banks, health institutions, and institutions operating in the scope of insurance to present some offers, and announce them on the Ministry’s website, the educational portal, to benefit from them.
“The processes of readiness, cooperation, and coordination taken by the General Directorate of Administrative Affairs to follow up on the new recruits of the teaching staff of male and female teachers at the level of the Ministry’s general office and educational directorates are permanent and continuous with the aim of achieving the goals set for the advancement of the educational process every academic year. The processes of readiness, cooperation, and coordination taken by the Directorate-General of Administrative Affairs to follow up on the new recruits of the teaching staff at the level of the Ministry’s General Diwan and the educational directorates are permanent and continuous with the aim of achieving the goals set for the advancement of the educational process every academic year.”
Dr. Nasser bin Salim Al-Ghanbousi, Director-General of the South Al Batinah Governorate Educational Directorate, confirmed that the governorate’s education has completed its preparations for the academic year 2023/2024 in all administrative and technical aspects of the departments of the Directorate and the schools of the governorate according to the plans set in order to achieve the goals of proficiency in the educational process in line with Oman’s vision 2040.
He said: “The number of new teachers appointed in the governorate for this year reached 347, and the number of teachers transferred to the governorate reached 387, and they were distributed to schools according to available vacancies. The governorate hosts this year 7,579 teachers, and 1,084 administrators and support staff, and the number of schools is 153, with an increase of four schools compared to last year, and a number of 101,661 students studying in all schools in the governorate. The distribution of most textbooks to schools has been completed according to the approved quota for each school. Preparations have also been made to implement targeted and varied training programs to raise the competencies of those assigned to the position of assistant principal of a school, and other programmes to raise the competencies of those assigned to the position of a school principal. Meetings will also be held with assistant principals of schools in charge of managing school, in addition to a number of development and training programmes for supervisors, teachers, administrators and other support groups.”
Aisha Al Hosni, a second field teacher from Shams Al Maaref School in Muscat Governorate, spoke about the beginning of the school year and the preparation she is doing, and said: “At the beginning of every academic year, I remember Alan Quinn’s saying, “Do not wait until the conditions are perfect to begin. Beginning makes the conditions perfect.” And with the sunrise of the first day of the new year, I am certain that the obstacles of the past turn into gates that lead to new beginnings. The first day of the new academic year is like a celebration of dreams and new wishes. I will work hard to carry this generation to their goals and aspirations, surround them with the collar of success, motivate them to obtain a lot of science and knowledge, saturate their minds with inspiring ideas, and nourish their hearts with the love of effort, diligence, and competition to attain higher ranks.”
Issa Al-Rawahi, an Arabic language teacher from Abdullah bin Rawaha School for Basic Education, in Al Dakhiliyah Governorate, said: “Returning to schools in which the teacher’s feelings are mixed between the paradox of vacation, comfort, and ease, to longing for a new academic year, new students, and perhaps a new curriculum. Once the teachers receive their school schedule, know the curriculum, they will teach, they roll up their sleeves in seriousness, and begin their first steps in preparing well, setting the quarterly plan, preparing records, and searching for the various means designated to implement the curriculum perfectly. A teacher must realise that conveying information to the student needs art, and it needs auxiliary tools, as it comes with challenges, and they must invest modern technology in facilitating the access of information to the student’s mind, or in consolidating it in them.”
