Religious tolerance in Oman: addressing religious prejudice through educational intervention

This paper examines the impact of a school-based intervention entitled ‘Our Brothers and Sisters in Humanity’ on 10th grade female Omani students’ religious tolerance. A questionnaire was administered before and after an intervention to a sample of 241 girls, of whom 116 were in the experimental group and 125 in the control group. A semi-structured interview was conducted before and after the intervention with 16 participants, of whom 8 were from the experimental group and 8 from the control group. Analysis of the quantitative data in the postintervention
round reveals that there are statistically significant differences between the experimental group and the control group in favour of the experimental group in religious tolerance. Similarly the experimental group shows greater tolerance when compared to the control group in post-intervention interviews. The study suggests that religion is one of the most salient components of Omani pupils’‘identity’. The participants use religion to define their relations with, and determine their tolerance of, those who hold different religious beliefs. However, we conclude that education that capitalises on the perceived similarities between religions can be a means to suppress intolerance.