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Merge 104.8 | 10 September 2020
Oman’s Supreme Committee for COVID-19 has announced during its 15th press conference held today [Thursday, September 10], that Oman’s 2020/2021 academic year will follow a blended learning format that will see numbers of students in classrooms staggered or reduced.
Speaking at the briefing were:
H.E. Dr. Ahmed Al Saeedi
Minister of Health
H.E. Dr. Madiha Ahmed Al Shaibani
Minister of Education
Officials from the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education
Touching on developments amid the ongoing COVID-19 situation in the Sultanate, Supreme Committee members noted the following:
H.E. Dr. Ahmed Al Saeedi
Minister of Health
— Oman recorded 398 new cases and 11 new deaths from coronavirus yesterday [Wednesday, September 9], bringing the total number of fatalities to 762.
— It is currently banned and considered a violation of the Supreme Committee to return more than 70 per cent of employees to offices.
H.E. Dr. Madiha Ahmed Al Shaibani
Minister of Education
— It has been decided that the academic year 2020/2021 will be a blended learning year, with both online and offline study to ensure the safety of students, teachers, and staff.
— Operations in this academic year will be different. There will be a health protocol designed by the Ministry for all roles — teachers, students, and parents.
— School buses will operate at half-capacity.
— There will be no classes counted towards academic completion, rather in-school hours of study will be counted, depending upon the schools.
— The Ministry has classified three categories of schools now:
Low-density with 16 students per class, per day and they will study three in-school hours a day.
Medium-density schools will study four in-school hours a day, with half the students attending one week and then the following week they study from home.
High-density schools will study five in-school hours a day, divided over three weeks, so students will have one week of blended studying followed by two weeks studying from home — with the exception of Grade 12 students who will be divided into two groups, studying over two weeks, in the same format as the medium-density schools.
— Medium- and high-density classrooms will continue to studying online, and through Oman TV lessons during their non-in-school study hours.
— There will be no two exams for two semesters, but rather one exam to be held at the end of the year.
— The new curriculum will be designed to fit the new mode of education, and there will be training programs designed for teachers to enhance their online teaching skills.
