Oman's journey to excellence in Science and Maths education
Shaping futures: Oman's journey to excellence in Science and Maths education
How Oman is providing the skills and knowledge for young people to thrive.
"I love science. I'm learning to become a scientist and make inventions in the future."
Saarah is just one of a new generation of students in Oman who have been inspired and excited by new ways of learning maths and science.
These young learners are among the first to benefit from changes implemented across Omani state schools, delivered by the Oman Ministry of Education, with close support from education transformation experts at Cambridge Partnership for Education.
A quality maths and science education can open so many doors on the world stage – to jobs in science, engineering, and technology. It also provides skills like critical thinking and problem solving that can be applied to careers in many other sectors too.
Supported and encouraged by modern teaching and learning methods, young learners are embracing their ambitions; the opportunities are limitless.
But how did we get here?
Beginning under His Majesty the late Sultan Qaboos Bin Said, and carried forward by His Majesty Haitham Bin Tarik, the sultanate has been on a journey to equip its youth with the skills and knowledge to thrive in an ever-changing world.
The modernisation agenda is embodied in Vision 2040, the ambitious blueprint for the sultanate’s future aspirations. The Vision pledges to nurture scientific research, innovation, and creativity to build a knowledge-based economy and society.
“The world is undergoing many changes. Education’s role is to prepare individuals and give them the skills they need to deal with all these changes. It also gives them the knowledge they need to deal with everything new in life.”
Working in partnership
Oman’s vision is for nothing less than an international-standard education in maths and science, accessible to all young learners.
To help achieve that ambition, the Ministry of Education sought a partner with global experience in transforming education systems. The answer was Cambridge Partnership for Education, part of the University of Cambridge that works with governments around the world to improve the quality of education systems.
“The goal was to collaborate with a leading international institution in the education sector. Not just a publishing house, but rather an educational institution so that we can provide all curriculum components including curriculum development frameworks and educational resources, evaluation, and teacher training programmes."
Cambridge Partnership for Education would be a key collaborator. But the reforms would belong to Oman, for Oman, built around the sultanate’s distinct culture, values, and vision for the future.
Creating a bright future
The reforms to maths and science education have been broad in scope and ambition.
It all started with developing a maths and science curriculum to develop an informed curiosity and a lasting passion for learning among Omani students.
The curriculum was developed with a close focus on progression, based on how children learn. The materials embed active learning approaches, developing skills such as scientific enquiry and mathematical problem solving, which encourage children to explore concepts in-depth.
“The Ministry realised the importance of learning how to build curricula aligned to international standards.” says Dr Yahya bin Khamis bin Hamood bin Muslim Al Harthy, Director General of Oman’s General Directorate of Curriculum Development.
Dr Sana Salim Al Sinani said: “The most important thing is that it [the curriculum] is based on what we call the skills of the future, or the skills of the twenty-first century, namely problem-solving skills and scientific inquiry skills."
A tailored curriculum to empower learners
A successful science and maths education is about much more than qualifications; it means giving young Omani learners the understanding, knowledge, and skills to succeed in the next stage of their education and in the world of work.
To achieve Oman's educational vision and aims, and particularly Oman’s Vision 2040, a well-designed and supported science and maths curriculum was essential.
Recognizing the significance of aligning the curriculum with international standards, the Ministry embarked on developing a curriculum that would provide future-ready skills, focusing on problem-solving and scientific inquiry.
Harmonizing the curriculum with the Omani identity was also a priority. So, collaborating with international experts from Cambridge Partnership for Education, specialists worked diligently to tailor high-quality curriculum to the Omani context, culture, ethos, and students' needs.
Developed with a close focus on progression and active learning approaches, the materials nurtured scientific enquiry and mathematical problem-solving skills.
Throughout the development process, curriculum specialists, educational supervisors, teachers and other experts from the Ministry Adaptation Teams rigorously scrutinized the curriculum.
Since launch in August 2017, the new curriculum has been implemented in 1,125 schools, with subsequent grades being added each year.
Crucially, the curriculum does not function in isolation; it is part of a coherent system that includes aligned textbooks, resources, and teaching and assessment approaches, reinforcing one another's effectiveness.
Benefits of the new curriculum
A curriculum specialist at the Ministry explained: “This curriculum focuses on different skills, such as active learning, practical investigations, and communication.
“It encourages teachers and students to apply the theoretical knowledge in practical ways, and drives them to critical thinking.
“This curriculum contains the newest information published in scientific books and international journals.
Publishing new textbooks and resources
To bring the curricula to life in the classroom, expert Ministry Adaptation Teams worked closely with Cambridge Partnership for Education to develop and publish new textbooks and resources.
Together, a dedicated Ministry Adaptation Team for each subject worked with Cambridge specialists and authors to adapt internationally renowned materials so they would be highly effective for Omani students.
Chemistry
"We have noticed a positive impact on students' acquisition of new knowledge and skills that was not there with the old curriculum. We expect the new curriculum to equip our graduates with the knowledge and skills needed by the job market and to be abreast of the scientific and technical advancement in the world."
Biology
"The new curriculum has stimulated teachers' curiosity and motivation to research and learn and focus on active learning. It has provided students with greater opportunities to acquire 21st century knowledge and skills, and helped them self-evaluate their work to enhance their learning."
Physics
“We saw greater interest in group activities, whether theoretical or practical, and the student became the focus of the educational process more clearly. The new curriculum gives the student more skills for the future, is more consistent with the formation of the student's personality, and makes them ready for work. "
Basic Maths
"It is hoped that at the end of the project, the students will be proficient in the most important basics of Maths from a global perspective, and equipped with the most important skills they need, whether to continue their graduate studies or to join the labour market."
Advanced Maths
"Teachers' strategies have changed, especially due to the presence of success criteria or 'I can' statements, which made the student involved and aware of what the teacher aims to achieve in the lesson and gave the teacher a path to make the depth of concepts clear."
"Faster and better": one student's take on the benefits of the newly developed resources
“There are very clear differences for students. The subject of mathematics in the old curriculum had one book. The old book was big and thick. Students found the subject challenging.
“In the new curriculum, there are two books. This is a very good thing. A book for students to read and a book for activities where students apply what they learned with the teacher.
“In the old curriculum, the teacher used to explain the lesson in one go. The new curriculum follows a spiral format in the presentation of topics. So, students learn the information gradually based on their age group. This helps them understand things faster and better.”
Supporting Oman's teachers
Oman’s teachers are working hard to educate, inspire and prepare the next generation to make the best of their lives. They have a crucial role to play in ensuring the success of the reforms – equipping students with knowledge, skills and ways of thinking and working to embrace science and maths. So, teachers need to be supported with quality training and professional development.
Teacher development was delivered through a combination of a face-to-face and online development programme.
Teacher development was designed to:
- Allow teachers to learn from experience and reinforce learning over time
- Focus on the skills development of regional supervisors to build continuity of support
- Model teaching strategies for the resources’ content
- Build collaboration among teachers and continuous feedback within the teaching profession
Empowering teachers to bring the maths and science curriculum to life
High-quality teachers are essential to empower young people to reach their potential in science and maths.
And teachers have been at the centre of educational reforms in Oman, bringing the curriculum to life in classrooms across the Sultanate.
So, an important element of the reforms has been custom-designed training for teachers – and other experts across the Omani education system.
All training is developed by Cambridge Partnership for Education, in close collaboration with the Ministry, to follow the curriculum and ensure it meets the specific requirements of teachers and ministry officials in Oman.
This training has included subject and assessment training for all grades and maths and science subjects. Ministry trainers, from the Specialised Teacher Training Institute, attend this training and then cascade their learnings down through regional training departments. Then, regional trainers share their training with teachers.
The subject training is followed by webinars, open to all teachers in Oman, to provide a forum to discuss progress and hear feedback from teachers; experts are on hand to then help them overcome these challenges.
For grades 11 and 12, Cambridge teams provide additional teacher capacity development training, which takes place in Cambridge itself.
Dr. Khalfan Hamed Alharrasi, an Oman-based in-country manager at Cambridge Partnership for Education, described how the long term collaboration between Cambridge and the Ministry had helped strengthen the training: “Since we started, in Grade 1, our collaboration with the Ministry has become stronger and stronger every year and we’ve got better informed of their requirements and expectations – as well as those of teachers.”
He adds: “I’m based in Oman and previously worked for the Ministry for 20 years and I was a teacher. Also my sisters are teachers in Oman. So I’m aware of what teachers need and require and my cultural, education and linguistic background helped me work with the team customise the programme”.
One teacher, Nadia Salem Falahia, said: “In the beginning, it was difficult for us, but with training from the Directorate and from the Ministry we learned about the curriculum and gained flexibility.”
Another teacher said: “All science and mathematics teachers underwent training for an entire week to establish this curriculum and its vision, as well as the teaching methods that they will follow. This programme develops teachers' thinking skills and their ability to teach exploration and problem-solving skills.”
Another key part of the reforms was assessment in maths and science, tailored to the curriculum framework and Omani needs to help identify and diagnose learning needs, and to measure and benchmark learners' potential.
One physics teacher commented: “Transforming the student from a recipient to an active individual by applying active learning methods in addition to cooperative learning, the teacher has diversified their teaching, assessment and evaluation techniques, provide feedback and take individual differences into account.”
Making a difference for students, teachers, and parents
A journey towards excellence in education has no final destination – Oman will continue to adapt to ensure its young people are as well prepared as possible with the skills and knowledge for an ever-changing world.
But huge strides have been made. The reforms in maths and science education have been rolled out at every grade across Oman.
The adoption of the new curriculum by Oman was highlighted in TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) 2019, where there had been an improvement in performance from TIMSS 2015 after just one year of the adoption of the curriculum at Grade 4.
The reforms have inspired students, teachers, and parents.
“In the new curriculum every lesson includes life applications, and this helps us use the information we learned in our daily life. For example, in the mathematics curriculum, we can calculate percentages and interest rates or discounts when we buy something, and therefore use what we learned.”
A grade 11 student added: “I feel that these curricula have helped us in our daily life as well as in our academic life. Studying mathematics helps us in physics. And if we come across a concept in our daily lives, we would already know it because this subject introduced us to this concept.”
Assessment for success
Assessment forms a key element of the reforms to maths and science in Oman: to help the Ministry measure and benchmark the knowledge, understanding and skills that students acquire in maths and science, and to identify their learning needs.
To achieve this, the Ministry has been working closely with experts at Cambridge Partnership for Education to develop assessment tools for maths and science. These included production of sample assessments, guidelines for preparing these assessments and training, tailored to Omani needs and objectives. They also included test specifications: defining the content, format, and objectives of an assessment, and ensuring it aligns with learning goals and standards.
All work on assessment has been shaped to ensure it closely supports and reinforces the new curriculum for maths and science and to ensure that students are assessed in skills that are recognised internationally.
Test specifications and sample papers
To accurately measure students' knowledge and skills, it is first necessary to create effective test specifications. These have been created for all stages of maths and science education, but most recently for the end of semester assessments for students in higher grades.
Together with the continuous assessment carried out by teachers, these end of semester assessments are designed to provide information relevant for use in:
- Monitoring student achievement and progress by teachers and parents
- Identifying strengths and weaknesses of individual students and groups of students by teachers and schools
- Decision-making regarding students’ progression through the education system
Cambridge has also provided training on writing test specifications. This included an understanding of the different types of assessment and the importance of test specification design and the key features. The training also provided helpful examples and practical sessions in which participants developed test specification templates to meet the requirements of their subjects and level.
Item writer training
A key element of Cambridge’s support has been to provide training to develop the capacity of the Ministry to write assessments - particular questions and their associated answers. This has taken place in Oman and in online workshops, with live translation between English and Arabic, where participants work in groups on reviewing and developing questions and mark schemes. All materials and sessions were translated into Arabic.
The training objectives of the item writer training programmes included:
- Exploring the key considerations when writing structured questions
- Developing participants’ skills in writing questions for different assessment objectives and differing levels of demand
- Exploring the key considerations when writing questions assessing scientific enquiry skills
- Developing participants’ skills in writing questions assessing scientific enquiry skills
- Developing participants’ skills in understanding and assigning assessment objectives in mathematics
- Developing participants’ skills in the use of a setting grid to aid the question paper production process.
Participants also received guidelines with examples of good and weak items.
Parents can play a key role in helping their young ones embrace the scientific and mathematical learning that can help them thrive in the modern world.
One father of three children said:
“The most important thing is to keep up with this scientific change or scientific boom that is happening in the world. It was difficult at first for parents and students in terms of understanding these curricula, but we adapted with time. It became fun. It took us from theory to practice, and that is very useful.”
Another parent said: “When I reviewed this curriculum, I felt it connected to the reality of life. When the student acquires basic skills in mathematical processes, they will inevitably use them in real life. They develop a positive mindset.”
“And all of this is in the student’s interest. We are preparing them to build a generation that can take responsibility and have experience they can use in real life.”
Teachers have embraced the changes. One physics supervisor said:
“The application of these curricula will help raise the student’s level of knowledge and skills in line with international and global standards, as they will acquire a number of skills, creative thinking, investigative learning and discovery learning. This will prepare students for global competition by enabling them to compete with their peers globally in competitions and international studies. It will also prepare them well for the requirements of the labor market and keep pace with global developments.”
A teacher, Abdullah bin Hamdan bin Ali Al-Abri, said: “When you learn science and mathematics, they open the doors to jobs and success.”
Thanks to the training they have received, teachers feel more confident in their abilities to host active learning sessions. They also reported that the training had improved aspects of their understanding.
Inventors, astronauts, and a future where anything is possible
The changes to science and maths education being put in place in Oman pave the way for young people to fulfill their dreams and ambitions. One student said:
“I want to be an astronaut when I grow up. I must know science and maths to become an astronaut.”
Another said: "Science and mathematics are fun and help students grow, invent things, and help build the future."
These students and many more – both present and in future generations – will be able to seize new opportunities in a national system that nurtures scientific research, innovation, and creativity to build a knowledge-based Omani economy and society.
As one teacher said of the reforms: “We are making constant and correct strides towards a bright education… I believe that the next generation will have more skills and more capabilities.”
For more information about the Ministry of Oman and Cambridge Partnership for Education's collaboration, visit www.cambridge.org/partnership
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