Minister Highlights Need To Focus On Improving Students' Performance
By P Marilyn

Bandar Seri Begawan - With the beginnings of information-based society, the world has become more complex and one of the most important competencies for graduates to master is the ability to learn, with little or no formal guidance, for the rest of their lives, said Brunei Minister of Education, who termed it as a 'lifelong learning.'

Speaking at the opening of the School Leaders National Conference and Workshop 2008, Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Lela Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Abdul Rahman bin Dato Setia Haji Mohamed Taib said, "We do not want a student body who may or may not have the `natural' ability to master the curriculum on their own.-

"Instead, we want them to have mastered the ability to think, learn and adapt continuously thereafter, to be employable in the Information Age. It is no longer enough to provide them with an education just to be able to learn and hand them a certificate once they have completed their time in school," the minister emphasised yesterday.

He highlighted the need to focus on improving students' performance as learners, critical thinkers and problem-solvers, and devise ways to measure their achievements.

The minister pointed out that some of us may not see the need for a 'paradigm shift' in education and continue to work as we used to, because we are buffered by wealth created by rising oil income, our biggest export.

"But you have got to agree that we are experiencing some fundamental changes," he said.

He spoke of the traditional education system, the one we grew up in, which the minister said was designed for a very different world from the one we live in today.

"The Industrial Age required a lot more workers than thinkers, so schools were really a sorting system first and a learning system second. Those who had enough 'natural ability' to learn, sometimes in spite of the system, passed on to the next level of education, while everyone else was sent out into the workforce

According to the minister, this system was intrinsically norm-referenced, because identifying 'the best' - who were to fill the limited openings at the next higher level - was at least as important as assessing competence in skills and knowledge, which would be developed over the course of a career.

The rapidly changing world today and technological innovation requires each generation of school leavers to learn different sets of skills and values. In order to survive in a highly competitive world, Brunei's education system has to constantly change and evolve in response to a constantly shifting environment.

`Therefore, the ability to think, learn and adapt has become increasingly critical for a larger proportion of the workforce," the minister emphasised.

Employers, he said, are demanding more and more complex skills, even from secondary school graduates.

"An increasingly global economy means that if a country's schools are not providing those skills, it will result in under investment by high tech, value added companies in that country - whereby companies will simply hire graduates from another country or relocate their operations elsewhere," the minister said.

Brunei Darussalam has been gearing up for an education transformation with all teachers and officers under the Ministry of Education putting together the new education system for full implementation in 2009.

Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Lela Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Abdul Rahman said, "We have taken the advice of experts, parents and other stakeholders to make the system less exam-oriented, more student-centred, broad-based, and provide learners with several pathways to higher education."

Considerable progress has been made by the ministry in reviewing the national curriculum and examination system as well as the introduction of reforms to ensure that the younger generation of people in Brunei is fulfilled, has moral values and are useful members of society.

In implementing the new education system (SPN 21), the minister noted the importance of looking into the critical role of teachers and school leaders, for without their support and involvement, the minister is certain of a slim chance of success. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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