Education Must Change To Face Newer Challenges
By Nasroul Hizam

Bandar Seri Begawan - Education, like many other aspects of life, would have to go through necessary changes and evolutions due to the constantly shifting environment and needs if Bruneians are to survive in this highly competitive world.

This was highlighted by the Minister of Education, Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Lela Dato Seri Setia Hj Abdul Rahman Dato Setia Hj Mohamed Taib, during the launch of the "School Leaders National Conference and Workshop 2008" at the Universiti Brunei Darussalam yesterday.

He admitted that there are educators and leaders who may not see the need for a paradigm shift in education and continue to work the way they used to, comfortably buffered by wealth created by rising oil income but stressed that there are fundamental changes being experienced.

He said that the traditional education system that the older generations grew up in was designed for a very different world. As the Industrial Age required more workers than thinkers, school was primarily a sorting system before being an actual learning system. And in spite of the system, those with enough `natural ability' to learn would pass on to the next level of education while others were sent out into the workforce.

"From the beginning of an information-based society, the world became more complicated," the minister said, adding that the ability to think, learn and adapt has become increasingly crucial for a larger proportion of the workforce.

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

"With an increasing global economy, this means that if a country's schools cannot provide those skills, it will push corporations, industries and companies to hire graduates from other countries or even relocate their operations to another country," he added.

The minister said that the most important achievement for graduates is the ability to learn, with little or no formal guidance, for the rest of their lives. "We do not want students who may or may not have the natural ability to master the curriculum on their own. Instead, we want them to master the ability to think, learn and adapt continuously thereafter, to be employable in the Information Age," he said.

"It's no longer enough to learn by rote learn and hand them certificates once they have `completed their time' at school. Instead, we must focus on improving their performance as learners, critical thinkers, and problems solvers and devise ways to measure their achievements."

Addressing issues of educational reforms in Brunei Darussalam, the Ministry of Education presented the Strategic Plan for 2007 to 2011 to meet the country's educational needs in the face of growing globalisation. At the centre of the ministry's vision is the provision of an education system that prepares the younger generation for future adult roles as capable, creative, thinking citizens who can contribute to society. -- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

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