Philippine School Sultanate of Oman

Philippine School Sultanate of Oman

,

Location
Muscat
Oman
Information
Type Private
Established 1989
Opened 1990
School district Al-Khuwair
Principal Norlinda Cura (acting)
Grades Preschool-Grade 6 (1990-1993),
Preschool-fourth year high school
(1994-2011),
K-12 (2012-onwards)
Color(s) Yellow and Blue
Mascot Patriots
Team name Patriots
Newspaper The PaceSetter
Website philippineschool.edu.om

The Philippine School Sultanate of Oman (also known as Philippine School Muscat), established in 1989, is a private school in the Persian Gulf region. Located in the city of Muscat, Oman, the school caters to the Filipino community as well as foreigners who live in Muscat, Oman.

History

Beginnings and opening (1989-1992)

In 1989, Filipino Overseas Workers conceived the school through the auspices and support of the Philippine Honorary Consul General his Excellency Essa bin Mohammed Al Zedjali in cooperation with the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

The district of Al-Wattayah became the first site of the school, then named as "Philippine Community School", where it was inaugurated in 2 February 1990.

The villa at Al-Wattayah district which served as Philippine School's first building

The school formally opened February 17, 1990. 38 students were under multi-level classes of multi-grade in pre-elementary and elementary levels handled by volunteer teachers Mrs. Vernie Cate and Ms. Fatma Nasser al-Kitani. June of the same year saw the arrival of the hired principal, Ms. Elenita Fernandez. Before the end of 1990, Ms. Isabelita E. Malong, Ms. Carmelita B. De Jesus, and Ms. Fe Edithaldine T. Vendiola, the first batch of school teachers came from the Philippines. That period saw the school offering the Pre-Elementary Level (Nursery, Kindergarten, and Preparatory) and Elementary Level (Grades 1 – 6).

The first batch of graduates was the preparatory pupils handled by the school principal. September 1991 saw the arrival of preschool teacher, the late Mrs. Rosario G. Ballesteros. The School was recognized as a learning institution by the Ministry of Education and Youth, Sultanate of Oman on October 16, 1991. School year 1990-1991 produced the first set of Grade Six graduates.

Moving the school (1992-1999)

The school transferred to a new and bigger site in Al Khuwair during its third year of operation, SY 1992-1993. It opened its secondary level with six First year High School enrollees. The first batch of High School Teachers, Dr. Dionisio Viloria, Mrs. Erlinda M. Valientes, Ms. Anette Imperial and Mr. Enrique B. Pontillas, along with an elementary school teacher came.

Towards the end of the same school year, the grade six graduating pupils composed their graduation song under the tutelage of Miss Fe Edithaldine T. Vendiola. That graduation song later became the school's Alma Mater Hymn in 1994.

Then again the school transferred to another location in Ruwi, in order to accommodate the growing population. Four additional teachers were hired for school year 1993-1994.

Having maintained the prescribed standards of instruction and having complied with the rules and regulations set by DECS, and in consonance with the policies for international schools by Ministry of Education in Oman, PCS gained its Government Recognition (No. 02, s. 1995) on 31 January 1995 under its new name, PHILIPPINE SCHOOL (PS). This recognition grants PS not only to offer pre-elementary and elementary but also secondary courses. Since then the PS has been operating in accordance with the laws of the Republic of the Philippines, particularly along organization, administration, and supervision for private educational institution; likewise, with the Ministerial Decree No. 4/2006 of the Sultanate of Oman.

At the end of school year 1994-1995, nineteen (19) elementary pupils and the first batch of six (6) high school students graduated.

A better building at Madinat Qaboos became the next home of PS in the school year 1995-1996. New teachers joined the teaching force. April 21, 1996 saw the Pledge of Loyalty, written by Miss Fe Edithaldine T. Vendiola, being recited for the first time.

Four additional teachers were hired in the school year 1996-1997 in response to the need of the school with the continuous increase in student population.

Return to Al-Khuwair (2000-2007)

The school went back to Al Khuwair with an annex compound at the start of 2000 with twenty three (23) able and dedicated teachers and personnel.

The villa in Al-Khuwair which served as PSSO's annex compound at the start of 2000 until April or May 2001 when Philippine School Sultanate of Oman moved to Al-Khuwair 33.

Academic year 2001-2002 saw the school being relocated to a bigger and more presentable villa at Al Khuwair 33. At first, the primary division of the elementary department moved to the villa wherein the main school campus remained in its 1998-2001 villa. Later on August 2001, the intermediate level of elementary department and the high school department moved to a villa two doors from the annex compound.

A 2006 satellite image of the 2001-2007 site of Philippine School at Al-Khuwair 33. The red circle is the elementary campus while the blue circle is the high school campus.

This move served as convenience to the school as the main and the annex occupy two separate villas in the same site; the Pre-elementary and Elementary Department in one villa and High school at the other villa. The Al Khuwair 33 site became home to Philippine School from 2001 to 2007.

For the 01-07 site, the elementary campus initially housed the kindergarten and preparatory levels of preschool as well as Grades 1-3 from 2001-2004 before the intermediate levels (Grades 4-6) of elementary moved in. The canteen was located in a small single-room duplex within the compound and the campus contained a playground within the back area. The compound also housed the main performance stage which was erected in 2002 beside the duplex that housed the canteen as well as a mini-basketball court. The villa also housed the accounting office and finance services as well as principal's office. The faculty room was located at the second floor from 2001 to 2005 and was relocated to the rooftop level at third floor in 2006-2007.

A 2014 photograph of the villa in Al-Khuwair 33 which served as the Philippine School elementary building from 2001-2007

The high school campus housed the intermediate level of elementary and the high school department from 2001-2004 before the intermediate levels (Grades 4-6) were moved to the annex campus from 2004-2007. It had a small basketball court, a balcony used as a stage, a small canteen at an alleyway within the compound, and a resting lodge for service assistants at the back of the school. The school building housed a computer laboratory, high school classrooms, science laboratory, a high school faculty room, a technology and livelihood education room, and the guidance office. The building also housed the preparatory level from school year 2006-2007

Relocation to the current site (2007)

In April 2005, the Board of Directors 2004-2006 initiated the acquisition of the new PS site at Al Khuwair Heights, which is a lot near two neighboring schools, Egyptian School Muscat and American British Academy. The following year, a ground breaking ceremony took place and the construction of the new building started immediately.

The current Philippine School site in late-2009

The transfer of the new school to the new site was facilitated by the 2006-2007 Board of Directors. The new school building was inaugurated on the 16th of June 2007 by His Excellency Acmad D. Omar, Philippine Ambassador to the Sultanate of Oman.

Academic year 2007-2008 saw the opening of classes in June. The 1990-2006 openings of the school year (with a summer vacation break after the first quarter) was changed. The 07-08 opening on June 15 was moved instead to June 23 due to the disastrous Cyclone Gonu affecting Oman and its neighboring countries on June 6, 2007, prompting a cleanup.

For the school's 20th anniversary, a row of four bleachers was built on a portion of the slopes fronting the basketball court.

Implementation of the K-12

After the graduation of the academic year 2011-2012, words of additional two years of high school, known as senior high school, surfaced on Philippine News. Later on school year 2012-2013, the school began a test run of the K-12 curriculum, replacing first year high school to Grade 7, and ending the 1945-2011 curriculum. On July of the same year the Fifteenth Congress, Third Regular Session, was held. This session dealt with the K-12 curriculum.

The two parts of the Legislative body of the Philippine government, the Senate and House of Representatives passed Senate Bill No. 3286 and House Bill No. 6643 on January 30, 2013. 2010-2016 Philippine president Benigno Simeon Cojuanco Aquino III signed the bill into law on May 2013, which is known now as Republic Act No. 10533, titled as the "Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013", to which Filipinos refer to as K-12 law. The K-12 system took full effect and shape at the start of academic year 2016-2017.

From its humble beginnings PS evolved from a simple academic institution into a highly structured organization having more than 700 students, 31 highly qualified and committed teaching staff, and 9 hardworking and personnel.

Today, PS continues to foster quality education; adopting educational trends and developments; and implementing the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013 (R.A. 10533) through the K to 12 Curriculum which offers Kindergarten and 12 years of Basic Education (6 years of Elementary Education, 4 years of Junior High School and 2 years of Senior High School).

Faculty and Staff

Majority of the teachers of the institution hail from different parts of the Philippines. Although most of the faculty are Filipino, there is also a very low number of foreign teachers. Foreign teachers, who are mostly of Middle Eastern heritage, teach Arabic to foreign students in the school. All teachers at hold a bachelor's degree, while some have master's degree.

Non-teaching staff and non-academic personnel are mostly Filipino while a few are foreign.

Students

Philippine School promotes respect for and understands cultural diversity.

The majority of the student population in Philippine School Muscat is Filipino, with only a few having dual-nationality. There are also foreign students who are from different countries. Omani students who plan to study in this institution must hold a copy of a "Permit to Study in a Non-Omani School", issued by the Ministry of Education.

Student Government

PSSO's current student governing body is the SCOPS (Student Council of the Philippine School). Student-related activities, donations, either school-related or other concerns (e.g. donations for flood victims and other disasters occurring in the Philippines most especially), and other events are organized or co-organized by the SCOPS. Elections for positions in the SCOPS occur on the first quarter of each school year, usually involving two parties in the election, after the campaign of two parties.

For the officers, majority who have served in the SCOPS were both Filipino and foreign. Although the SCOPS presidents had been mostly Filipino, the first non-Filipino SCOPS president was a Tanzanian-Omani named Allasam Mohammed Al-Hinai, who served as SCOPS president during school year 2011-2012 until his graduation on March 29, 2012 with the batch of high school and grade school of that academic year.

Incidents and accidents

The school has had a low number of major incidents and accidents in its history.


School Seal

Gallery

References

    This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/4/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.