Muscat, A virtual forum titled “Learning Loss Due to Covid-19: Impacts and Treatments” kicked off here today under the auspices of Dr. Madeeha Ahmed Al Shaibani, Minister of Education.

The first day of the forum saw the participation of Dr. Saif Hamad al-Humami, Permanent Representative of the Sultanate at the UNESCO, members of the State Council and Majlis A’Shura, the Ministry’s under-secretaries and experts from the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the International Association for Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA).

The two-day forum targets 700 participants, including teachers, educational administrative staff, supervisors, social counselors and specialists, students and parents from different governorates of the Sultanate.

Dr. Madeeha said in an opening speech that the prevalence of Covid-19 pandemic in the world has had a variety of economic, educational and social impacts, including school closures which disrupted learning schedules.

“Statistics released by the UNESCO indicate that 94% of students worldwide were impacted by hindrances posed by Covid-19 since mid-April 2020, and this stands for 1.58 billion children and young people from the pre-school stage to the university stage,” said Dr. Madeeha.

The minister pointed out that the Sultanate is not an exception from this global experience and that Oman promptly endorsed a transformation of the educational landscape in a manner that enabled students to pursue their education, both via Blended Learning and Online Learning.

The Health Protocol implemented in the Sultanate secured the safety of the school community, while the public sector joined hands with the private sector in establishing electronic educational platforms, including “Mantra” platform for the First Cycle (Class 1-4) and Google Classroom for the Second Cycle (for post-basic education students). The programmes also included training for teachers to enable them to deliver innovative products.

Dr. Madeeha affirmed that the Ministry will build on the gains of this stage and seek other advanced methods of teaching to upgrade the quality of education in the Sultanate in a manner that fits with the goals of Oman Vision 2040, inspired by the enlightened directives of His Majesty Sultan Haitham Bin Tarik.

Source: Oman News Agency