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Ministry of Education signed a Memorandum of Collaboration (MoC) with Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) and German University of Technology in Oman (GUtech) to train about 70 school students from PDO concession area as part of Maarifa and Tazeez programmes.

The MoC was signed by H.E Dr. Abdullah bin Khamis Ambusaidi, Undersecretary of Ministry of Education for Education, Eng. Mohammed bin Ahmed Al Ghareebi PDO External Affairs and communication Manager, and Dr. Hussain bin Sulaiman Al Salmi, Deputy Rector for Administration and Finances in GUtech. The signing was held in the Ministry’s headquarters.

Maarifa Programme

Through the agreement, Ministry of Education -in collaboration with PDO- will supervise the selection of 70 school students to join Maarifa Programme, which is a summer academic programme consisting of three main elements executed by GUtech; academic part covering English and computer basics, developing competencies focusing on soft skills such as leadership, taking responsibility, decision making, time management, critical and creative thinking, problem solving, collaboration, team work and financial management, and the third part covers a number of extra-curricular activities such as sports, arts, field visits, attending cultural forums, media skills, organizing seminars and competitions and educational visits.

Tazeez Programme

After completion of Maarifa programme, 25 from the 70 students will be selected to join Tazeez programme, which will be held in the UK during summer 2024 for four weeks. Tazeez programme is based on specialised courses aiming to enhance students’ English language as well as developing their communication skills.

In this regard, H.E Dr. Abdullah Ambusaidi, Undersecretary of Ministry of Education for Education, said: “The local and international educational programmes targeting students are part of the Ministry’s endeavors for their importance to provide students with academic, vocational and personal skills. This has led us to sign this agreement with PDO and GUtech to execute these two programmes for Omani students.”

PDO External Affairs and communication Manager Mohammed bin Ahmed Al Ghareebi said: “We are pleased to collaborate with Ministry of Education to supervise the second edition of Maarifa and Tazeez programmes targeting a new group of school students from PDO concession area. These two programmes aim to develop the academic and non-academic skills of the students and empower them in academic aspects, in addition to a number of competencies that students need in the twenty-first century, which are multiple skills taught to students in different ways in an attractive and stimulating environment.”

Dr. Hussain Al Salmi, Deputy Rector for Administration and Finances in GUtech, said: “We are proud that GUtech was selected to execute “Maarifa and Tazeez” programmes for its academic expertise in such programmes locally and internationally. The university has an educational and academic system capable to successfully achieving all the programme objectives.”

This is the second agreement to implement Maarifa and Tazeez programmes, demonstrating the partnership between Career Guidance and Student Counseling Center in Ministry of Education, PDO and GUtech. Throughout such agreements, a number of educational programmes in different areas of career guidance and student counseling have been implemented across the educational governorates in Oman.