Pledge Of A More Flexible Education System To Meet Student’ Needs
By Fei Phoon

Bandar Seri Begawan - Senior representatives from the Ministry of Education have promised a more flexible education system better able to accommodate student needs for their development.

The revised education system will be emphatic on capitalising on students' talents and capabilities, educators and parents of students at the Yayasan Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolldah School heard at the ministry's first formal school briefing on its latest strategic development plan.

The school's parent-teacher association, led by Dr Hj Abd Manaf ' Metussin, had been invited to express any opinions or misgivings about the ministry's proposed changes to Bruneian education. They were told that their feedback would be critical in the refinement of their plans.

"To improve the education system we need to identify what is lacking in the current system and needs to be handled," said Dr Hj Suhaila Hj Abd Karim, Director for Planning, Development and Research Division under the ministry.

He added that the ministry was prepared to face up to any deficiencies in the existing system, in order to achieve its vision of a 21st Century Educational System which concurred with the government of Brunei Darussalam's human resource development initiatives.

Adjustments would chiefly be made to how the curriculum prepared students for their '0' Level examinations, as well as how the ministry could improve the way it kept tabs on performance standards in schools across the nation. One of the challenges acknowledged by the ministry was the disparity between Lower Secondary Examination (PMB) and '0' Level results; while 77 per cent of students passed their PMB in 2006, a staggering 54 per cent of candidates achieved 3 'O's and below. The ministry has stated its intention of phasing out the PMB exams - the last PMB exam will be held in 2009-- and replacing it with a formal assessment of students' abilities in their second year of secondary school.

There are also designs ro introduce streaming programmes, which will allow selected students to complete their secondary education in four years instead of the usual five. Dr Hj Suhaila also expounded on proposals _to create alternative paths to higher education in order to make the most of students' abilities, as well as making industrial attachments part and parcel of their education:

"This is necessary for (students) to observe and appreciate what it means to be employed or self-employed," he said.

Other topics discussed included possible improvements on existing support for gifted and special needs students, the discontinuation of the Vocational Secondary Examinations (PMV) and the Level 2 stream in government schools, and ambitions to raise the ratio of computers to students in both primary and secondary schools and promote ICT usage. About 100 teachers and parents attended the briefing at the school's main lecture hall.

Also present at the talk were Dr Hj Loji Saibi, principal of YSHHB School and Hj Mat Zahri Hj Yusof, Assistant Administrative Director (3) at the Ministry of Education.-- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

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