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13-01-2019

Times of Oman

Muscat: Top scientific and research organisations from around the world, such as NASA and CERN, will be taking part in the second edition of the Oman Science Festival, a top official at the Ministry of Education said.

Scheduled to be held in November 2019, the second edition of the Oman Science Festival aims to deliver science to students and community members in an easy and interactive way that motivates creative thinking, thus creating a positive attitude towards science, innovation and scientific research. The first festival saw more than a hundred thousand visitors, which was held across all 11 governorates of the country.

“It contributed significantly in encouraging students in schools, colleges and universities to pay more attention to science, mathematics and innovation,” said Saud Al Balushi, the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education for Planning and Human Resources Development, who is also the Chairman of the organising committee of the festival. “It will enable us to take the Oman Science Festival to the regional, if not the global, level because scientific institutions such as NASA, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the leading international institutions in STEM programmes are participating in it.”

“The first edition of the Oman Science Festival 2017 covered all governorates of the Sultanate with 350 activities and events in which students, teachers, supervisors, parents and university instructors participated. Around 120,000 people visited the five-day festival in all the governorates.”

Oman’s Ministry of Education is hoping to top the number of visitors who came to the first Oman Science Festival, when its second edition is held this year.

It also aims to encourage students to recognise the importance of science in life and encourage them to innovate and keep pace with global trends based on the dissemination of science and technology. In addition, the festival aims to enhance students’ skills to integrate them into the knowledge-based economy, and encourage young people to continue learning in scientific disciplines.

“The secret of success of the Oman Science Festival 2017 lies in three facts,” added Al Balushi. “First, the private sector has generous and effective support. The second fact is the true partnership between the Ministry, the Education Council, the Scientific Research Council, Sultan Qaboos University and the rest of the universities and other institutions. The third is the firm faith of Oman’s young men and women who dreamed of the festival in their minds and then executed it."

“The partnership with the private sector is crucial in the success of the Oman Science Festival 2017,” he said. “The private sector strongly believed in the idea and its wealth, its importance, and its returns to not only education and science, but also realised its returns to the economy in general, and to the private sector in particular. It was a conscious and fruitful partnership.”

Al Balushi said this when the Ministry of Education held the introductory meeting of the second edition of the Oman Science Festival 2019 under the patronage of Dr Madiha bint Ahmed Al Shaibaniyah, Minister of Education. A number of their Excellences, undersecretaries of the Ministry of Education, SEOs of supporting companies and institutions attended the meeting.