Bandar Seri Begawan - In terms of the developments that Universiti Brunei Darussalam has made since the previous convocation, the changes are apparent.

However, there are more related fields that the university needs to improve on, as highlighted by His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, at the recent 24th Convocation of UBD.

One highlighted difference since the 23rd Convocation was that the graduates at Post-Graduate (Masters) level have shown a 56 per cent increase compared to the previous year, according to statistics.

This year's convocation included the first award for programmes in Public Health, Logistics, Energy Studies, New Media, Computing and New Media, Counselling, and Southeast Asian Studies.

As highlighted by the Vice Chancellor, Dato Paduka Dr Hj Zulkarnain bin Hj Hanafi, the programmes resulted from discussions held in UBD between the government agencies and private sectors in identifying what resources are needed for job marketability at present as well as in the future.

UBD will also work closely with its stakeholders in planning for the necessary programmes to be offered and what are most suitable for the nation's developments.

Another initiative in supporting the students' exposure and cooperation, UBD has been introducing and implementing various innovative methods in teaching and learning called the Global Classroom.

This method involved lectures that can be watched by UBD students and lecturers simultaneously with outer-leading universities using multi-site video-conferencing.

In his speech at the 24th UBD Convocation, and referring to His Majesty's titah during the 22nd UBD Convocation that expressed a desire to increase the capacity of human resources to see more locals to study in UBD, especially at the post-graduate level, Dato Paduka Dr Hj Zulkarnain said:

"I am pleased to present that UBD has introduced a scholarship scheme called the Bursary Award to local students who are eligible for the PhD programme.

"With this scheme, it is hoped that more opportunities will be given for increasing knowledge and human resource developments, as well as promoting a culture of research, knowledge and innovation amongst the locals.

"This is in line with the theme of National Development Plan - 'Knowledge and Innovation, Improves Productivity, Accelerates Economic Growth'," he added.

In light of His Majesty's titah at the 23rd UBD convocation, and to improve the quality of academic services, especially on the tertiary level, the Vice Chancellor said, "UBD has been working with the relevant parties concerning the preparations and modifications of the academic services scheme for the institutions of higher learning, whereby the scheme is hoped to upgrade the quality of services and the creation of academic staff."