HM 74th Birthday

Page 20

Education

Ensuring QUALITY EDUCATION

Wani Roslan

Over the past few years, the Ministry of

Education (MoE) has taken various initiatives

to enhance students’ performance and

teachers’ competencies through numerous

platforms to ensure that education in Brunei

Darussalam is equivalent to international

standards.

The Sultanate is ranked third in all

domains of the Programme for International

Student Assessment (PISA) among the

79 participating countries. Overall results

have placed Brunei in the 60

place for

Reading, 51

place for Mathematics and 50

for Science. Brunei is one of the only three

ASEAN member countries that administers

the study in the English Language.

The MoE has continued its efforts to

supportschoolsandteachersinstrengthening

students’ knowledge and skills, which is

aligned to its Strategic Plan 2018-2022.

Spearheading these strategic actions are the

ministry’s Primary and Secondary Education

Initiatives, which will be continuously

improved with emphasis on teachers’ and

All schools are required

to comply with the

guidelines set by the

Ministry of Health.

school leaders’ professional development.

In addition, there are efforts in this plan

to embed and further support technology

in education, aspects of entrepreneurship

and innovation, as well as interest in STEAM

(Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts

and Mathematics).

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic

has had a great impact on educational

institutionsaroundtheworld,including Brunei

Darussalam, with the long closure of schools

to contain the spread of the pandemic. To

mitigate the impact on education, the MoE

introduced alternative learning pathways to

ensure the interruption to education is as

limited as possible via e-learning (shifting

to online classes) and home-based learning

(HBL) where the materials could be collected

from schools.

Facing the current circumstance for the

first time, it gave the opportunity for the

MoE to try the educational technologies and

the best way of implementation through

understanding the problems and challenges

faced in carrying out online learning. The MoE

also set out research initiatives to understand

how to deal with the current situation and to

do better if it needs to be done again in the

future.

OnMarch30, theonline teaching–learning

for primary and secondary schools, sixth-

form centres, vocational institutions and the

Institute of Brunei Technical Education (IBTE)

under MoE, schools under the Ministry of

Religious Affairs (MoRA) and private schools

began.

In ensuring that the education runs

during the pandemic, the Authority for Info-

communications Technology Industry of

Brunei Darussalam (AITI), in collaboration

with the Ministry of Transport and

Infocommunications (MTIC) andMoE initiated

a donation drive to support online learning

and provide assistance to students in need.

Due to the number of cases decreasing

in the country, the government started

to lift restrictions in stages and the MoE

announced the first phase of school re-

opening, which began on June 2 specifically

for students sitting for public school – Years

6, 8, 10 Express, 11, 12 and 13. Meanwhile,

co-curricular activities were temporarily

suspended to ensure safety and social

distancing. The MoE then announced the

second phase of school reopening on June

18, in which around 43,765 preschool up to

Year 5 students returned to school for face-

to-face learning session.

Borneo Bulletin, Wednesday July 15, 2020

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Sempena Menyambut Ulang Tahun Hari Keputeraan

Kebawah Duli Yang Maha Mulia Paduka Seri Baginda Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien

Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan dan Yang Di-Pertuan Negara Brunei Darussalam

Ya Allah, Lanjutkan Usia Kebawah Duli Sultan, Kekal Qarar Memerintah Negara

Daripada