The five-year agreement will transform education outcomes across the sultanate in the era of digital learning
20 October, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman. The Ministry of Education today signed a partnership agreement with Microsoft to accelerate digital transformation in education across the sultanate. The collaboration will work towards empowering teachers with skills and technological capabilities to improve learning outcomes, and better prepare students for jobs of the future.
The agreement was signed by His Excellency Majid bin Saeed bin Suleiman al Bahri, Undersecretary for Administrative and Financial Affairs at the Ministry of Education, and Sheikh Saif Hilal al Hosni, Country Manager Microsoft, Oman and Bahrain.
H.E. Majid bin Saeed bin Sulaiman Al Bahri said “This agreement comes as a result of our continued partnership with Microsoft and is part of the building blocks of a deeper collaboration to provide training to all teachers in the Sultanate. This effort will contribute to enhancing their skills and technological capabilities, while supporting the education transformation in the country.”
The agreement will focus on four main pillars. These include Leadership and Public Policy; Teaching and Modern Education; Smart Environments; and Technology. Through these pillars, Microsoft will work together with the Ministry of Education by making its tools and competitions available to support the development of the education digital transformation plans based on the ministry’s needs. The activities will include trainings, workshops as well as Hacking STEM lessons that will contribute to creating a broad awareness and intellectual orientation towards digital transformation. The Ministry will also host Microsoft’s annual DigiGirlz event that will provide an opportunity for young female students learn about careers in technology and participate in hands-on workshops.
Sheikh Saif Hilal Al Hosni, Country Manager, Microsoft Oman and Bahrain, said: “This agreement is a milestone in our efforts and reiterates Microsoft’s commitment to the Ministry of Education. We are proud to support the ministry with our innovations to enable the digital transformation in education and enhance the education system, in addition to creating inspiring and comprehensive experiences to ensure sustainable learning and development.”
“We will continue our efforts to support the goals of Oman 2040 Vision, which aims to create a high-quality educational system in accordance with national and international standards, in order to ensure building local capabilities of teachers with dynamic skills that are competitive locally and internationally.” Al Hosani added.
The digital transformation in education agreement between the Ministry of Education and Microsoft, is a five-year partnership as part of the ministry’s endeavor to keep pace with the new era of digital learning. The collaboration builds on previous strategic agreements and collaborations between both parties that have contributed greatly to raising awareness of digital transformation and entrenched the concepts of technology in the educational system.
Microsoft will also support the Ministry of Education to establish a dedicated skills development and training platform under the supervision of the Ministry’s E-Learning Department. This will also include making providing nominated schools with access to Minecraft in Education edition, a game-based learning platform that promotes creativity, collaboration, and problem-solving in an immersive digital environment. Teachers will also benefit from this activity and apply the lessons in classrooms.
