Over $200m Earmarked To Upgrade Schools
By Aemy Aziena

Bandar Seri Begawan - The Government of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam has earmarked about $211 million for a programme to upgrade the infrastructure of schools in the Sultanate.

Seventy-two primary schools and 27 secondary schools will come under the "Building Improvement of Schools and Infrastructure" programme, which is for schools that are more than I 3 years old and are in need of either maintenance or improvements.

This was stated by the Minister of Education, Pehin Dato Hj Awang Abdul Rahman bin Dato Hj Mohamed Taib, who was the guest of honour during last Saturday night's event to mark the Golden Jubilee celebration of Pengiran Raja Isteri High School (STPRI) at Manggis Mall.

STPRI is among the schools listed under the programme scheduled to be completed by 2010, he added.

According to the guest of honour, the high quality of educational services is the main focus of the Ministry of Education.

To achieve this, a number of initiatives have been carried out including upgrading the level of infrastructure of schools by providing conveniences for teaching, learning and co-curricular activities, he said.

Besides upgrading the infrastructure of schools in Brunei, developing the teaching manpower is another initiative that the Ministry of Education has given serious attention to, the Minister noted.

"A teacher with good calibre and high quality is not an easy thing to find. Additionally, the leaching profession is very challenging," he said.

Thus, an Advisory Board to Sultan Hassanal Institute of Education, UBD was founded to improve training for teachers, he said, adding that the aim of the board was to improve the level of professionalism in teachers.

Another point highlighted by the Minister was about `Structured Career Tracks', which is an initiative to give teachers with potential a chance to advance in their career.

He hoped that the initiatives and programmes of the Ministry of Education will result in something positive.

In concluding his speech, he urged all to work hard towards ensuring STPRI will continue to be known as a quality educational institution whose role is to fulfil the country's aspirations in producing people who are knowledgeable, skilled and morally strong.

The finale of the event saw the presentation of certificates and Golden Jubilee awards by the guest of honour. Among the recipients were STPRI principals from 1957 to 2007, ex-students of STPRI and the main sponsors of the STPRI Golden Jubilee.  -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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