Education Sector Must Face Challenges
By Neil Awang

Brunei-Muara - The education sector must rise to take on challenges and play its role in order to realise Brunei's vision in 'Wawasan Negara 2035' to have its people widely recognised as being educated, highly skilled and successful citizens.

The Minister of Education, Pehin Orang Kaya Seri lela Dato Seri Setia Hj Abd Rahman Dato Setia Hj Mohd Taib, emphasised this in his speech during the opening of the International Seminar on Higher Islamic Studies, yesterday held in conjunction with Sultan Sharif Ali Islamic University's (Unissa) first anniversary.

"The vision also determines that any success achieved by the nation would be measured according to the highest international standards," the minister pointed out.

The two-day seminar, he believed would be very useful for the young university, as the views, information and experienced brought by the speakers can be used as a guideline in preparing their plans, especially in the best practices of teaching and learning in various aspect of studies.

The minister also said that it is crucial for Unissa to work closely with its partners, either from, the government or private sectors.

The guest-of-honour applauds the university's incentive to develop itself, and urged Unissa to identify its niche, which was considered to be important in order to be distinguished from other higher Islamic institutions.

Pehin Dato Hj Abd Rahman stated that although it might be difficult to achieve this, he insisted that it is still possible. Unissa was therefore to continue their effort as there had been many progress that they achieved since its inauguration one year ago.

According to the Deputy Rector of Unissa, Dr Hj Mohd Yusop Hj Awg Damit, the seminar was the first to be held, although there were several other events that have been organised.

Being a new university, the deputy rector admitted that there were several challenges, especially in the era of globalisation, in order for the university to stay competitive.

"It is common for something new to take a lot of time to gain trust and confidence in quality and effectiveness," he said.

Apart from that, the deputy rector highlighted that information and communication technology in the era of globalisation would give hope to the university to move forward at a fast rate to be in the same pace as any other higher institutions.

Realising this important fact, the steering committee has chosen `Higher Islamic Studies in the Era of Globalisation: Challenges and Hopes' as the theme for the seminar.

The first day of the seminar was filled with four working, papers, presented by prominent speakers, including a paper by the State Mufti, Pehin Datu Seri Maharaja Dato Paduka Seri Setia (Dr) Ustaz Hj Awg Abdul Aziz Juned, as the first speaker.

This was followed by the Deputy Minister of Education, Pengiran Dato Seri Setia Dr Hi Mohammad Pg Hj Abd Rahman, who is also the Rector of Unissa.

The papers were presented in Malay, English as well as Arabic languages.

It was hoped that the working papers would gave Unissa some ideas in drafting and preparing the action plan towards building and developing the institution into a university of excellent quality and eventually producing Muslim scholars and thinkers as well as human resource for the nation's development.

The seminar will end today with the presentation of two more working papers, followed by a closing ceremony, at UBD Chancellor's Hall in Jalan Tungku Link.-- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

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