Programme to develop youth skills launched

Muscat: With the blessings from His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, Sayyid Khalid bin Hilal bin Saud Al Busaidi, Minister of the Diwan of Royal Court, on Tuesday launched the national programme for the development of youth’s skills.
The programme focuses on the trends of the 4th industrial revolution (4IR). Applications for enrolment will be opened this month and the first training session will be held in August this year. In a statement by the Minister of the Diwan of Royal Court during his meeting with the consultancy team for the National Programme for Developing Youth Skills, which comprises a number of talented Omani youths, he stressed that the National Programme for Developing Youth Skills reflects the royal care of the youth and that they are at the core of the national priorities. The programme complements the national programmes promoted by the Diwan of Royal Court to cover vital sectors, such as the public, private and youth sectors. The programmes target 3,000 male and female youths of the age category 15-29 in different parts of the Sultanate.
The two-year programme will raise the awareness and knowledge of participants about the 4IR ethics, skills and knowledge, as well as the modern technologies used. The Programme will follow two pathways each of them targeting a certain age category.
Dr. Ali bin Qassem bin Jawad, Advisor of the Studies and Researches at the Diwan of Royal Court stressed the integration between the pathways of the national programmes promoted by the Diwan of Royal Court.
He pointed out that the National Programme for Developing Youth Skills comes at an ideal time as the world is changing rapidly supported by the 4IR. The programme provided rich learning experiences that rehabilitate youths to cope with the 4IR and its applications.
The National Programme for Developing Youth Skills includes two pathways, the first of which is dedicated to youngsters of the age category between 15 to 17-year-old. The participants will be trained on software, robots, logical thinking, digital media and digital citizenship. The programme will launch the creative skills of youth and deploy them in their daily lives. It also raises their awareness at an early stage of the challenges and opportunities provided by the new technology. The pathway is implemented in cooperation with a number of international organisations, such as Ligo of Denmark, Firetech of U.K and German University of Technology (Gutech) in Oman, in addition to a number of training companies.
The second pathway targets training youths between 18 to 29-year-old on the 4IR ethics, skills and knowledge to boost performance at work.
The Programme includes a foundation stage at which participants will be trained through e-learning platform that offers its programmes in the Sultanate for the first time.
Those who successfully complete these programmes will be qualified to get what is called ‘ NanoDegree’; a new kind of international certificates that focus on learning 4IR technical skills. The programme focuses on three majors namely data science, software and digital marketing. It will include weekly virtual and individual session to enhance learning at the different governorates. The stage aims at providing youths with e-learning culture which is one of the basic elements in the education future in the world. The foundation stage qualifies participants for the intensified programme at the second stage.
The initial state will be followed by a six-week intensified training programme inside the Sultanate – and outside the Sultanate for outperforming trainees based on transparent and cumulative assessment process.
The programme will focus on 4IR applications and knowledge, as well as citizenship in digital knowledge.
The programme will be implemented in Nanyang Technological University of Singapore, Ecole Polytechnique Federal de Lausanne of Switzerland, in addition to other organisations from inside and outside the Sultanate.
After completing the learning experience, the participants will manage to develop their critical thinking skills, and negotiation skills, in addition to how to deal with challenges.
It should be noted that these skills cover the elements shown in The Future of Jobs report issued by World Economic Forum.
All applicants for the National Program for Developing Youths Skills will be subject to fair, transparent and accurate testing process according to clear competitive criteria.
The testing process will be carried by an experienced independent organisation in the field of developing human resources and efficiencies that will carry out the selection and evaluation operation.
On the occasion of launching the National Programme for Developing Youths Skills, Sayyid Khalid addressed the youths and urged them to benefit from this opportunity which opens the door for bright future.
He added that youths should be aware that their country is caring for them and rely on them to continue the Blessed Renaissance march.
He reminded them that success is associated with hard work and dedication.