Bandar Seri Begawan - The Worldskills Brunei Darussalam National Competition went off to a lively start yesterday, in a soft launch that took place at the Al-Muhazzab Building, Nakhoda Ragam Vocational School.

The launch was officiated by Hj Mohd Sharifuddin Hj Mohd Salleh, the Acting Director of Technical Education, Ministry of Education, who is also the Chairman of the Executive Committee for Worldskills Brunei Darussalam.

Brunei Darussalam is a member of Worldskills International, a global organisation working for the promotion of vocational and technical education and training. Brunei's main objective in becoming a member of the Worldskills International was to benchmark the country's vocational and technical education and training against international standards.

To achieve the objective, the Department of Technical Education (DTE) is aspiring to get more of the country's youth involved in the Worldskills International Competition in future. One of the efforts in this direction is the country's participation in the regional competitions held by Asean Skills.

In the order to achieve effective participation at the regional and international levels, Worldskills Brunei Darussalam is currently holding competitions at the national level.

One of the main aims of these competitions is to identify and nominate suitable participants to represent Brunei Darussalam at the forthcoming Asean Skills Competition in Jakarta, Indonesia, November this year.

The national competitions will also improve the work quality of the technical and vocational instructors as well as students.

Additionally, it will enhance the competitiveness amongst students and will also improve the overall quality of technical and vocational education in Brunei Darussalam.

The participants involved in these competitions are students of Vocational and Technical Institutions, Institut Teknologi Brunei, Youth Development Centre and private sector individuals.

"One of the outcomes of the National Worldskills Competition Brunei Darussalam 2012 is to enhance the image and increase the quality of technical and vocational education in Brunei Darussalam.

It is hoped that with the presence of this quality competition, it will further enhance the local instructors' quality of work and knowledge on this field.

Apart from this, it is also hoped that the competition would encourage closer cooperation among government agencies, industries as well as technical and vocational training institutions in the country."

This was said by Haji Mohd Sharifuddin during the launching of the 6th National Worldskills Competition Brunei Darussalam 2012.

"Around 86 participants are involved in this year's competition comprising students from technical and vocational education institutions, Youth Development Centre and also from the private sector," he added.

The competition also provided the opportunity to nominate candidates with the best potential to represent Brunei Darussalam at the 9th Asean Worldskills 2012 Competition, which will be held in Jakarta, Indonesia, this November.

"We hope that by gaining the much-needed experience at the regional level, both instructors and students alike will benefit hugely in their efforts to enhance the image and competitiveness of technical and vocational education in Brunei Darussalam."

Education has played a major role in technical and vocational training since the 1970s by the Ministry of Education, which is paramount in the growth and development of human resources in Brunei Darussalam.

--Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin