21-05-2025
Digitalisation of curricula to empower teachers
The Ministry of Education, represented by the Directorate-General of Curriculum Development, and in cooperation with BP Oman, launched the Digitalisation of School Curricula Project for Grades 1–12.
The event was held under the auspices of Eng Said bin Hamoud al Maawali, Minister of Transport, Communications and Information Technology, and was attended by Dr Madeeha bint Ahmed al Shaibaniyah, Minister of Education.
In his speech, Dr Abdullah bin Khamis Ambusaidi, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Education for Education, emphasised the unprecedented opportunities brought about by digital technologies to enhance the quality of education.
'Education is no longer confined within the four walls of the classroom. It has become a vast space that transcends geographic boundaries and provides both students and teachers access to rich and diverse learning resources.'
He said that the project directly empowers teachers with modern educational tools to deliver content more effectively and creatively while offering students a flexible and comprehensive learning experience that aligns with their individual needs and abilities.
He added by saying that the project is an integral part of a broader vision for digital transformation in education, laying the foundation for a technology-based, future-oriented learning ecosystem.
Yousuf bin Mohammed al Ojaili, President of BP Oman, expressed the company's pride in partnering with the Ministry of Education, stating that the initiative aims to empower teachers and enrich students' learning experiences through greater interactivity. He emphasised that the collaboration highlights the vital role of public-private partnerships in driving innovation and leaving a sustainable impact on education in Oman.
The event featured a visit to a model interactive classroom, where a group of teachers and students presented sample lessons using digital textbooks and interactive screens. A short documentary on the project's development journey was also shown, followed by the official digital book launch and the honouring of BP Oman as the project's main sponsor.
The digitisation process went through several key stages, beginning with the preparatory phase, which involved defining the technical and educational specifications for the digital content. This was followed by content analysis, scenario development, and quality review.
Each digital book required up to 80 hours of review, totalling more than 4,800 hours for 60 books. A trial phase was then conducted in selected schools to gather feedback and refine the content. The final stage involves publishing the digital books through the ministry's Educational Technologies Portal and later via the Noor platform's digital repository, in line with broader national digital transformation projects. Media campaigns will also accompany the rollout to raise awareness.
Dr Mona al Siyabi, Head of the Technical and Scientific Team for Digitising the English Language, said: 'In line with Oman Vision 2040, we have launched the first phase of developing digital interactive books for Omani schools. This phase focuses on transforming traditional textbooks into engaging digital formats for the early grades.
"These new digital books are rich with interactive features, including games, activities and videos, designed to enhance the learning experience for students and support teachers in the classroom. They also serve as a helpful resource for parents at home. We aim to expand this effort to cover grades 5 through 12 in the upcoming stages."
Currently, these interactive books are being piloted in selected schools, and we are collecting feedback from teachers and students to evaluate their experience and identify areas for improvement.
The ministry aims to develop and transform traditional curricula into interactive digital content within the national educational platform. The project seeks to offer a variety of digital resources for different learning styles, support distance education using information and communication technology, foster self-learning and collaborative learning and equip students with future-ready skills. Ultimately, it aims to improve the quality of education, enhance student performance and provide accessible and effective digital learning tools.
The project comprises 6 phases... the preparatory phase, the analysis phase, the educational scenario preparation phase, the digital production phase, a pilot phase and the digital book propagation phase (giving access to digital content via the e-learning portal and later via the Noor system).
