15-08-2018

Times of Oman

Muscat: With the Royal blessings of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, the Diwan of Royal Court inaugurated the first edition of Al Shabab Scheme of the National Youth Programme for Skills Development.

Dr. Ali bin Qasim bin Jawad Al Lawati, Research and Studies Advisor at the Diwan of Royal Court said, “This programme reaffirms that young people are the top priorities of His Majesty the Sultan, who blessed this programme since its first concept. His Majesty the Sultan directed towards for its implementation at the highest levels of professionalism to achieve the desired result.

“The Diwan of Royal Court adopted this work with constant follow-up by the minister of the Diwan of Royal Court to ensure the translation of the goals of the royal orders.”

The programme focuses on skills, knowledge and values of 4th Industrial Revolution. It was launched in a session on cyberspace attended by 1,000 participants in line with the nature of the first stage of the course, in which participants will learn skills of the 4th Industrial Revolution through an e-learning platform.

Al Shabab Scheme will start with 1,000 youngsters from the age group (18-29 years) from all the governorates.

It will include a preliminary stage of three months. The course will be based on the UDISETE e-learning platform, which qualifies for a Nano Degree; a new type of global certification focused on learning the technical skills of the 4th Industrial Revolution.

The focus will be on three disciplines namely data science, software and digital marketing as virtual sessions enhancing learning will be included.

This stage aims to equip youngsters with e-learning culture, which is now one of the key elements in the world future education.

The distinguished participants of the first stage will be qualified, after assessment, to the second stage, which will include an enriching educational experience inside and outside the Sultanate, in cooperation with a number of universities, international and local institutions aiming to benefit from successful international experiences and adapt them to the prosperity of the knowledge and digital economy in the Sultanate.

The process of evaluating and selecting participants in the programme was characterised by a fair and transparent methodology in accordance with clear competitive criteria. It was conducted by an independent institution with experience in the field of competency development and human resources development.

The registration for Al Shabab Scheme is open for the age group (18-29 years).

As more as 11,000 applications were received from all governorates of the Sultanate. The candidates were then subjected to a number of online tests in evaluation centers in different governorates of the Sultanate to select (1,000) participants for the first stage.

The National Youth Programme for Skills Development targets 3,000 Omani youth from various governorates of the Sultanate between the ages of 15-29 years over two years in order to empower Omani youth with the necessary values, skills and knowledge to succeed in future fields of work to be prepared for the 4th Industrial Revolution.