Oman firm launches first online platform for vocational training

23/05/2016 07:38 AST

A fully integrated e-platform for vocational and professional training and internationally approved specialised vocational certifications provided by Cloud Smart Learning (CSL) was launched here on Sunday.

The event was organised under the patronage of His Highness Sayyid Dr. Fahad bin Al Julanda Al Said, assistant secretary general for promotion Innovation and Development at the Research Council.

Abbass Al Hemaid Al Lawati, the innovator and founder of the first-of-its-kind establishment, explained that the main objective is to bridge the gap between job seekers and labour market requirements in the domestic market.

"CSL gives those who like to enhance their skills and knowledge an opportunity to join specialised high-end vocational training courses, which will be internationally credited and under the supervision of global teams with the high level of qualifications. The attendants will be granted graduation certifications approved from international establishments. All the above will be fully available online via an advanced e-portal according to a programme that fits the financial, work and life circumstances of the students,” said Al Lawati.

New concept

According to the CSL founder, the global job market gives priority to vocational qualification and not the academic one. "We all know that most of the employees and job seekers wish to attain vocational and professional courses but at the same time they have obstacles in terms of work-life balance that hinder them. So, CSL was created to reduce time and place and remove all these obstacles, because all are online, from filling applications to doing tests and examinations.”

Speaking on the cost, Al Lawati affirmed that the programme fees are very low, thanks to the flexible model adopted and the high operating efficiency due to online operation. For example, the fees for the first diploma will be available for about OMR1,000. Moreover, the fees can be scheduled according to the units taught. To make thing easier to the students, there will be a package of facilitations for each unit; so that, the student can tailor his need according to his requirements and budget.

Live lectures

Study programme include live lectures to be delivered on line by one of CSL experts; from anywhere in the world and each student of the same group can attend the lectures while sitting at his own country.

On line assessment

Al Lawati explained that all tests and assessment processes throughout the programme are on line, based on strict measures to have quality control in place. For example, the programme chooses automatically random samples of 30 per cent of researches submitted by the student. These samples will be discussed by the expert trainer to make sure that the student is the one who did the research by himself.

Times of Oman