Introduction

In the book  21st Century Skills: Learning for Life in Our Times , the authors Bernie Trilling and Charles Fadel have premised that “the world has changed so fundamentally in the last few decades that the roles of learning and education in day-to-day living have also changed forever”.

Co-curricular activities help to develop students’ holistic development and assist in developing critical skills and abilities to be successful and happy in the life and workplaces. Therefore, the importance of co-curricular activities is immense during the education process. When theoretical curriculum and co-curricular activities are combined, the chances of learning more and exploring strengths, interests, and abilities becomes greater. Therein lies the importance of co-curricular activities, which are complementary to the theoretical curriculum.

To fulfill the above needs, the College of Economics and Business Administration-Salalah has conducted an event, called ‘Scholastic’ on 6 ^th December 2022, at the UTAS-Salalah multi- purpose hall. The event consisted numerous academic activities and games which gave a great opportunity for the students to show and improve their talents. It was a mix of various activities like, Quiz, Group Discussion, Selling Game, Extempore Talk etc. These activities gave the students a platform to think out of the box.

Inaugural Session

The event was inaugurated at 9:00 AM with the arrival of the distinguished guests Dr. Mohammed Rashid Al Mamari, Dean, UTAS-Salalah and Dr. Majdi Sulaiman, Assistant Dean Academic Affairs, UTAS-Salalah.

Welcome Speech

Mr. Ricardo Biason, the master of ceremonies, greeted the audience members and notable visitors before kicking off the program. The event started with a welcome speech by the President of the Business Club, Mr. Abdullah Ali Al Tamimi, followed by the opening remarks of the Head of the Department, Dr. Ghanim Shamas. He welcomed all the distinguished guests and the audience. He talked about the significance of co-curricular activities in the emerging era.

Quiz

The Quiz competition was conducted with 12 groups consisting of 4 students from various levels. Mr. Neil Raymond was the Quiz Master along with Mr. Vinukumar Chandran - Scorer, Dr. Abdulnazar.N Abdulalnabi - Timer, Dr. Ajay Kumar Sharma - Auditor, Mr. Mohammed Shariff - Auditor, Ms. S. Fazilathunissa - Timer, Mr. Arnelito R. Junio - Scorer.

The questions comprising of easy to difficult, were asked during a period of 30 minutes. It was an engrossing session, as the students came across some very interesting and some very difficult questions. This activity not only enhanced the students’ ability to explore and test their subject knowledge but at the same time made them learn the art of time management and teamwork skills.

Team six was the winner by scoring the highest points and the participants were, Ms. Muna Mohammed Hubais, Ms. Iman Al Mashani and Ms. Riyan Al Kathiri.

Academic Games (Caterpillar and Selling Game)

The purpose of the academic games was to make the students learn with enjoyment. The first game was Caterpillar in which the students learnt about leadership, teamwork, coordination, and communication. In the second game, ‘Selling an Item’, students were asked to sell a chosen product to the audience. These games created lot of enthusiasm and more than expected number of students participated in this event. Academic games were well organized by Mr. Ricardo Biason and Ms. Seemab Rana. For the first game the winners were, Mr. Adil Said and Ms. Nidal Adil and for the Selling game the winners were Mr. Ali and Ms. Ghaliya.

Group Discussion

The group discussion promotes an in-depth understanding of a topic and improve long-term retention. It clearly tested the participant’s comprehension and knowledge on the subject matter. Dr. Amit Sharma, Dr. Ramanadh Kasturi and Dr. Suresh Esakki facilitated this event. There was a live discussion on the topics like, ‘Online education Vs. Offline education’ and ‘Impact of Social Media on Youth’. Two groups were divided into boys and girls separately. All the participants shared their valuable thoughts on these two topics. There was a tie for the first place among girls’ participants. First prize for the girls was won by Muna Mohammed Hubais and Ms. Weam. Among boys the winner of the GD was Mr. Suhaib.

Interaction with the Alumni

Former students from Human Resource Management Specialization and Accounting Specialization of the College of Economics and Business Administration-Salalah, Mr. Ahmed Al Mamahri from Global Gypsum Company and Mr. Salim Tabook from Dhofar Power Company interacted and shared their experience with the students.

Extempore Talk

To assess students’ capabilities on various aspects such as presence of mind, thought process, ability to communicate and presentation of ideas, the extempore talk was organized. Mr. Hatem Suwailam, Dr. Rathna Chellappa and Mr. Abdullah facilitated the activity. Ms. Ghaliya Rafeet was the winner of the extempore talk.

Specialization Open discussion

In addition to all the other activities there was a special session for all the specialization students. The head of sections from different specializations interacted with the students about the current developments, new specialization area, upcoming changes and scope with respect to each specialization. The discussion was first initiated by Dr. Ali Akaak, Head of Section for Human Resource Management followed by Mr. Neil Raymond, Head of Section of Accounting and Dr. Peeyush Diwedi on behalf of Ms. Amal Al Amri, Head of Section of Marketing.

Vote of Thanks

At the end, main facilitator of this event; Dr. Amit Sharma, Lecturer and OJT Coordinator, CEBA-Salalah, delivered the vote of thanks. He thanked the UTAS-Salalah Dean, Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs, Administration Department, CEBA-Salalah Head of the Department and all the organizing committee members for their support in making this event a success.

Memento and Prize Distribution

Dr. Ghanim Shamas presented mementos to the Alumni as a token of thanks and distributed prizes and certificates for all the winners from various activities.

Additionally, there were three lucky draws to encourage the students’ participation in this event.

The event concluded with the serving of snacks and drinks to all the staff members and students.