The Reality of Teaching Hours in the Primary stage in the Sultanate of Oman and a Number Countries in the World: A Comparative Study

This research aimed to track the duration of the school day in a number of developed countries, especially countries that achieved high results in international studies such as TIMSS and PIRLS during the last ten years and compare them with the duration of the school day in the Sultanate of Oman. The research also sought to track some studies that addressed the relationship between learning time and students' academic achievement. Data was collected through previous related studies, as well as reviewing international reports and websites of global centers and bodies such as the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), and the National Center for Education and the Economy (NCEE). The research followed the comparative methodology, as it was applied to a sample consisting of ten countries that achieved high results in international studies in addition to the Sultanate. The results of the study showed that the number of school hours per day is less than the Sultanate in five countries: Finland, Singapore, Germany, Estonia and Japan, and is equal to New Zealand. As for the remaining four countries, the number of daily school hours is greater than the Sultanate in South Korea, Hong Kong, Shanghai and the Netherlands. As for the average number of school hours per day in the countries included in the study, it is almost equal to the number of school hours in the Sultanate. Therefore, the study recommended that it is preferable to keep the length of the school day as it is currently in the Sultanate so that student achievement is not affected in the event of reducing learning time, as many studies have confirmed, except in the event of increasing the number of actual school days during the academic year, in which case the number of hours per day can be reconsidered.