MUSCAT -- Dr Hamoud Bin Khalfan al Harthy, Under Secretary for Education and Curricula, officially launched the ITC curriculum for Omani schools yesterday at a gathering attended by dignitaries from Ministry of Education and representatives from various private bilingual and international schools in Oman. The under-secretary launched the Sultanate of Oman's first IT curriculum -- MOSAICT. The pilot project is being introduced in the private schools of Oman. Taking the students to the next level of online teaching, the IT curriculum is locally developed meeting international standards of school ICT solutions with latest skills and competencies. It is an initiative of Ministry of Education and Mosaic LLC based on 17 Core Technological Skills areas and guidelines.
There are 16 schools that have already started implementing the curriculum in the academic year of 2013- 2014 (started September 2013). Most of the ICT lessons are integrated with other subjects such as Math, Science, General Knowledge, Music and Art because of which other teachers have also been benefiting from the teaching method. With the response and recommendations the concept will be introduced to other schools. Siham al Riyami and Isa al Gatrifi are co-authors of the IT syllabus making it Oman oriented. "We have based our insight and research on His Majesty Sultan Qaboos' speeches since 1970 focusing on education and the publication called Oman Report. "We looked at what we needed in the Omani environment as we developed this curriculum in addition to the international experience. We wanted something unique for our kids starting from KG until Grade 12. Looking at all the aspect we developed the syllabus along with the company Mosaic LLC," explained Gatrifi.
With the introduction of ICT in school students of grade 1 have been executing computer projects and will learn the basic word processing skills and by grade 6 they will be able to design logos and much more advanced skills in the senior classes. Siham Ahmed Saeed al Riyami, Deputy Director for Educational Program Department, said "Today's workshop on the results of the piloted project will let us know whether we try it in schools nationwide or wait until the curriculum for 12th grade is developed while private schools continue with the curriculum. It is a resource pack for teachers and students with worksheets, Microsoft programs, assessing sheets etc." The curriculum takes into consideration the different abilities of students and is also aimed at slow learners, gifted children and students with learning disabilities.
Hritik Khimji, Director of Mosaic LLC, said, "Being in this industry for more than 17 years it was our dream to develop a curriculum which suited the nation and meet international standards. And to fulfil this dream what can be better than the privilege to work with Ministry of Education. I am proud to announce the launch of MOSAICT curriculum." The team representatives of this pilot project will conduct presentations in public school in the upcoming days. The event also included a presentation from Microsoft- Oman and K12 Inc (USA) introducing the latest practices in online teaching, which according to the experts are bringing in a paradigm shift on how classes are conducted but much more interactive.
© Oman Daily Observer 2014
