The College of Education will host a scholarly seminar titled “The Role of Summer Centres in Shaping the Omani Personality and Strengthening National Identity: Opportunities and Challenges” next Wednesday. The event is organised by the UNESCO Chair in Educational Psychology and the Department of Islamic Sciences at the College, in collaboration with the Imam Jabir bin Zaid Waqf Foundation. It forms part of ongoing academic efforts to highlight the educational role played by summer centres in nurturing younger generations and reinforcing national values.

The seminar aims to examine the educational and social dimensions of these centres, reviewing their contributions to shaping students’ personalities and developing their cognitive and behavioural capacities. It will also address the challenges they face amid rapid cultural and social transformations, particularly the impact of social media on Omani identity and character.

The seminar will be structured around four main themes. The first focuses on curricula, teaching methods, and assessment, discussing the courses offered at summer centres, instructional approaches, and evaluation mechanisms. It will also consider the educational pathway, its duration, progression between levels, and the criteria for selecting both teachers and students.

The second theme centres on personality development from psychological and social perspectives. It will explore the role of summer centres in fostering students’ motivation and creativity, the reasons families and students choose to enrol, and the psychological and social effects these programmes have on participants.

The third theme addresses the devotional and ethical dimensions of personality formation, highlighting the role of summer centres in promoting religious awareness and strengthening moral values among young people, thereby contributing to the development of a balanced generation that combines knowledge with sound conduct.

The fourth theme examines the role of summer centres in enhancing national identity and the Omani character. This includes fostering values of loyalty and belonging, strengthening linguistic identity, promoting moderation and balance, and reviewing the challenges posed by social media to the cultural identity of youth.