Oman .. A guide for sustainable development in the school environment

Today, a workshop began on preparing a guide to promote sustainable development concepts in the school environment, organized by the Ministry of Education, represented by the Omani National Commission for Education, Culture and Science and the Specialized Institute for Vocational Training for Teachers, in cooperation with the UNESCO Regional Office for the Gulf States and Yemen in Doha, and will last for four days at the Grand Hormuz Hotel.

The International Day of Education was also celebrated on the sidelines of the workshop, which falls on January 24 of each year and comes this year under the slogan Artificial Intelligence and Education: Preserving the Effectiveness of Human Will for an Automated World.

This year's International Day of Education aims to study the new capabilities provided by artificial intelligence, especially with regard to teaching, learning, assessment and educational management, and to enhance the development of literacy in the field of artificial intelligence by providing teachers and learners with the necessary competencies to understand and use artificial intelligence techniques and tools.

The session, sponsored by His Excellency Majid bin Saeed Al Bahri, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education for Administrative and Financial Affairs, aimed to raise awareness of the importance of including sustainable development concepts in the educational process, and to produce a preliminary draft of a guide. Experts in the field of education and sustainable development from UNESCO participated in it, and a number of advisors, general managers at the Ministry of Education, supervisors and teachers attended.

Dr. Intisar bint Abdullah Ambusaidi, Director General of the Specialized Institute for Vocational Training for Teachers, referred in her speech to the role of the Sultanate of Oman in empowering teachers and promoting professional development, recognizing the importance of teachers as the cornerstone of the educational process and a major driver for achieving the goals of sustainable development.

Dr. Mahmoud bin Abdullah Al Abri, Secretary of the Omani National Commission for Education, Culture and Science, delivered a speech in which he said: International and regional organizations concerned with education, culture and science, such as UNESCO, ISESCO and ALECSO, continue their efforts to promote the ethical and effective use of artificial intelligence in education, and these organizations have worked to develop frameworks and policies that integrate advanced technology in the fields of education, culture and scientific research, with a focus on ensuring the responsible and fair use of these technologies.

Dr. Anas Bouhlal, a program expert at UNESCO, referred in a speech to the organization's call for the fair and comprehensive application of technology in education, and implemented many initiatives in this field, including the Artificial Intelligence Ethics Recommendations Project, the Future of Education Initiative, and the Global Education Monitoring Report.

Dr. Saud bin Saif Al Amri, Senior Information Systems Specialist at the General Directorate of Information Technology at the Ministry of Education, presented a working paper in which he discussed the ministry's efforts to integrate artificial intelligence technologies into school education, including issuing the executive program for artificial intelligence, preparing a package of training programs targeting administrators and teachers in this field, preparing a specialized team of certified trainers, and integrating these technologies into the ministry's information systems.