Bandar Seri Begawan - Some 75 Junior Scouts, aged between 12 and 15 from around the country are currently participating in a three-day "2nd National Patrol Leaders Course" being held at the Brunei Darussalam Scouts Association (PPNBD) Headquarters in Beribi.

According to PPNBD. the course which is jointly organised by the Cocurriculum Education Department, Ministry of Education and the PPNBD, is held to further develop the leadership, as well as responsibility and cooperative qualities of the participants, particularly those required to be a "Patrol Leader".

The Patrol system is considered to be one of the main essence of scouts. Patrols can comprise of as many as seven junior scouts where they are given the opportunity, to learn to work with one another. The Patrol leader will then bear responsibility of planning out the various activities in a patrol.

"This National Patrol Leaders Course for junior scouts is aimed to provide exposure to patrol leaders in manning patrol." said the PPNBD who explained that the ability to lead is a necessity for patrol leaders.

Other objectives of the course includes promoting more effective interaction among the junior scouts with other patrol leaders while equipping the participants with new skills and experiences when camping.

The course consists of 15 theoretical sessions which includes survival, fire lighting and first aid exercises, as well as topography and jungle trekking activities such as plant, insect and animal foot prints identification.

The participants will also be taught foot and stick parade marches during their morning exercise activities.

Secretary of the PPNBD Zainudin Hj lshak said that the course would also help to build and develop the participants' characters towards becoming an efficient leader. "The (course graduates) will then be able to train new members. This concept is known as rakan sebaya (peers)," he said.

The PPNBD also said that it was necessary for such courses to be held annually in the hopes of allowing the association to achieve its vision and mission of obtaining a membership list of 10,000 members.

They added that the course would also prepare the Junior Scouts to cope with the challenges that they would face in the future.

"They will have the chance to know more clearly the roles of leaders in a group. (in addition to) equipping them with skills that they cannot obtain in classrooms," they said.

The first National Patrol Leaders Course was held during March 15 to 17 in 2002.  -- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

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