Brunei's Local News - Brudirect.com

Bandar Seri Begawan - The Ministry of Education yesterday held a thanksgiving ceremony to celebrate 443 students granted scholarships by the government of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang DiPertuan of Brunei Darussalam to study overseas this year.

The function took place at the International Convention Centre (ICC).

The students, who will undertake a range of programmes from the A-level to the Masters and PhD level, were given the opportunity to interact with each other as well as get up close and personal with the Minister of Education, Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Lela Dato Seri Setia Hj Abdul Rahman Dato Setia Hj Mohamed Taib.

The minister congratulated parents and guardians for supporting their children and enabling the latter to achieve excellent results necessary to qualify for the scholarships.

He told the students to aim for Second Upper or

even First class results as they have been handpicked as the best out of thousands of applicants.

He reminded them that they have the responsibility to prove that they are capable of doing the best for the country, and that the responsibility for success does not fall on the ministry alone, but is shouldered by everyone.

The minister also advised that they go through their time overseas with patience, determination and focus, optimising their time in order to succeed.

Pehin Dato Hj Abdul Rahman added that they should return home with greater confidence, bringing with them the skills to think and analyse critically as well as communicate efficiently prior to settling into the working environment and their future professions.

In pursuit of fuifilling the nation's human resource needs, the ministry has ensured that students offered scholarships are sent to renowned institutions.

It has also expanded its scope of destinations for further studies to institutions in the US, Germany, China, Japan and South Korea.

The minister added that management of scholarship schemes will be improved in the future with the introduction of attachment programmes in both government and private agencies during semester breaks to give early exposure of work experience to students, adding onto support services by opening up a student affairs office in countries such as Singapore, America and Australia.

The selection system will also continue to be competitive, taking into, account individual strengths, suitability and student abilities.

In addition to Bruneian students being sent overseas to study, yesterday's ceremony also celebrated the coming of 20 students from overseas studying in institutes in the Sultanate such as Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD), Institut Teknologi Brunei (ITB) and Sultan Sharif Ali Islamic University (Unissa).

Rafiqul Islam from Bangladesh was offered the opportunity to undergo a Higher National Diploma (HND) in Computer Systems Engineering in ITB.

He told The Brunei Times that he was inspired by someone he knew from Bangladesh who was awarded a scholarship by Brunei 10 years ago and is now holding a position on the ministerial level.

The 23-year-old Electrical Engineering diploma holder admitted that it would be the first time he would be attending classes entirely in English.

From India, 26-year-old Razik Abdullah will be undergoing a full year Masters in Islamic Banking and Finance.

As a Muslim, he found it to be his duty to give back to the Islamic society especially with Brunei Darussalam developing into a hub for Islamic banking. -- Courtesy of The Brunei Times