Oman to host world meet on education

Six hundred delegates, including 300 from abroad, will take part in the three-day International Conference on the Development of Secondary Education, which has been put off by one day and will held from December 22.

"We are looking at reforming our 11th and 12th grade education system and we hope this conference would show us the direction," Yousuf Al Molahi, Director of Educational Inform-ation and Documentation, told Gulf News yesterday.

The conference is being held in conjunction with the Unesco and Sayyid Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, Oman's Minister of National Heritage and Culture will be the guest of honour on the opening day at the Al Bustan Palace Hotel.

Oman's Minister of Education, Yahya bin Soud Al Sulaimi and a top Unesco official would deliver key note address.

"There's nothing drastically wrong with the present system of education for the 11th and 12th grade schooling in Oman," insisted Al Molahi but added that time had come to keep pace with the educational development around the world.

"We want to make it more practical and one that would help pupils in their future jobs," he pointed out.

According to Al Molahi, the conference will review the challenges that face secondary education and the opportunities that it offers in the 21st century.

The conference is held to build on the results of the national seminar which was held here last April. The seminar was held on the future of secondary education in Oman with participation from UAE and Riyadh-based GCC education department.

The theme of the International Conference in December is 'Education for a better future- Directions, challenges and Priorities'.