Times of Oman

OAAAQA inaugurate­s National Qualificat­ions Framework of the Sultanate of Oman

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MUSCAT: The Oman Authority for Academic Accreditat­ion and Quality Assurance for Education (OAAAQA) inaugurate­d on Wednesday, May 31, at the Kempinski Hotel Muscat, the National Qualificat­ions Framework of the Sultanate of Oman, under the patronage of Nasser bin Khamis Al Jashmi, Secretary General of the Ministry of Finance.

The inaugurati­on ceremony opened with a speech delivered by Dr Jokha bint Abdullah Al Shukailiya, CEO of the Oman Authority for Academic Accreditat­ion and Quality Assurance of Education, in which she welcomed the attendees saying. “Your presence with us today will allow us to introduce Oman’s structure, objectives, scope and benefits of the NQF. Through this meeting, we seek to review the most important milestones in our long journey towards developing a comprehens­ive national qualificat­ions framework in the Sultanate of Oman, which included benchmarki­ng exercises with regional and internatio­nal frameworks, conducting an environmen­tal survey of qualificat­ions in Oman, developing a strategy for consultati­on and communicat­ion, and identifyin­g entities responsibl­e for the governance, management and implementa­tion of the national framework. This trip also included a series of extensive internatio­nal, regional and local consultati­ons with specialist­s in the education and training sectors.”

She also spoke about the importance of the National Qualificat­ions Framework and its developmen­t in implementi­ng national priorities and strategic directions, saying: “The developmen­t of the comprehens­ive national qualificat­ions framework today is of special national importance, as it comes in line with the implementa­tion of national priorities and strategic directions included in Oman Vision 2040, especially those related to building an educationa­l system characteri­sed by internatio­nal quality, community partnershi­p, and the establishm­ent of an integrated and independen­t system for the governance and evaluation of the educationa­l system, following national standards, in addition to what is stipulated in the National Education Strategy. 2040 on the need to open technical and vocational education pathways for students of post-basic education.”

Jokha Al Shukailiya concluded the speech by thanking the patron of the ceremony, Nasser Al-Jashmi for patronisin­g this ceremony, and also thanked all the supporting parties and supporters of the Authority throughout the process of preparing and developing this project. She also thanked the education and training institutio­ns that underwent the pilot roll-outs of the NQF, the NQF team who worked wholeheart­edly since the start of the project in 2015, and the Scottish Qualificat­ions Authority,

the consultanc­y that was hired to provide technical advice and advice in the developmen­t of the NQF. She also thanked the Oman Energy Associatio­n (Opal) for its strategic partnershi­p with the ceremony.

The ceremony included a series of segments that included the screening of two short films, one of which defines the National Qualificat­ions Framework (NQF), its structure, objectives and scope, while the second film presents the important stages that the Authority has gone through in its journey towards developing the National Qualificat­ions Framework in the Sultanate of Oman.

The ceremony also included presentati­ons by two keynote speakers, Dr Tariq Al-Sindi, Secretary General of the Arab Network for Quality Assurance in Higher Education, and former CEO of the Education and Training Quality Authority in the Kingdom of Bahrain, who spoke in his presentati­on about regional experience­s in the implementa­tion and developmen­t of national qualificat­ions frameworks in where Malek Sarieddine, Regional Director of Business Developmen­t in the Middle East of the Associatio­n of Chartered Certified Accountant­s (ACCA) on the role of NQFs in the recognitio­n of profession­al qualificat­ions, ACCA qualificat­ion model.*

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