I always affirm that our school no longer honors race or ethnicity. I could not care less if you are black, brown, red, yellow or white. I could not care less if your origins are African, European, Latin American or Asian. As per the continuous changes and progress that are made around the world, the only identity this school will recognize is your individual identity — your character, your scholarship, your humanity.

I would suggest that being a citizen is about all this and more and that is why the introduction of citizenship as a national curriculum subject has brought with it such high expectations. Principally, it has brought to the fore a belief that our education system, and the curriculum taught in schools, has a role to play in fostering a sense of community and social responsibility and awareness among today’s younger generation.

They have thought carefully about the curriculum and staff deployment and have found constructive ways to establish a core of citizenship teaching, sometimes within new citizenship departments. In these circumstances, pupils have embraced the new subject with enthusiasm, valuing its relevance and valuing the opportunity they are given to offer their views and make a difference. The purpose of citizenship is to equip pupils to become involved, make choices and take action based upon their knowledge and understanding. ‘Reasoned’ citizenship, taught by properly qualified and knowledgeable teachers is at the heart of everything we do and will always remain significant.

It is now a known fact that our traditional educational system, through building additional classrooms and opening a new branch of NPS in Alamrat, where students are prepared predominantly on the academic front has not yielded the maximum result. We are all aware that as human beings, we live within a society which has its own norms and values. Therefore, we must strive to train people who can fit perfectly in our society and contribute their best to society’s development. In this way, for one to live a fruitful and fulfilling life here on earth, one must be helped to find one’s true identity and purpose of living through responsible co-existence and through sound spiritual values. In this respect, all the identifiable stakeholders in education have a role to play in ensuring that children receive holistic education. I think that success in any educational system is the result of good partnership between all stakeholders such as teachers, students, the government, civil society and parents/guardians. It is, therefore, imperative that all stakeholders will identify and play their respective roles very well so that students can be educated holistically to realize their full God-given potential in life for the betterment of Oman and achieve His Majesty’s – Sultan Qaboos may Allah protect and favor him- hopes. It is my hope that, this tried and tested method of instruction will be strengthened so that all products that pass through this school will be educated holistically. Our Value Statement also gives a lot of issues for consideration. If only all our students are imbibed with values of disciple, empathy, hard work, honesty, etc, Oman will be a better place to live in.

I would want to conclude by saying that, in achieving holistic education, all stakeholders must play their roles very well in a well – coordinated environment so that students can be nurtured into full adults with the realization of their full potentials and God-given talents for society’s benefits.

I thank you all for your active cooperation

Chairman of NPS

Barghash Said Mohammed Al-Said