Bandar Seri Begawan - Eleven Master of Education students of the Curriculum Pedagogy and Assessment (MA Ed CPA) of Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) organised a cultural performance show for members of Pusat Ehsan Al-Ameerah Al-Hajjah Maryam yesterday at the centre.

Present were Awang Haji Abd Hamid bin Maaruf, Head of Administration of Pusat Ehsan; Dr Jainatul Halida binti Jaidin, Dean of SHBIE, UBD; and Dr Hjh Rosmawijah binti Jawawi, co-lecturer of EIU; as well as invited lecturers, teachers, staff and students of the centre.

The event began with a welcoming speech by Hjh Kartinah binti Haji Kamism, a representative of MA Ed CPA, where she stated that through closer understanding of the centre, the students and the community, it is hoped that their knowledge will be broaden.

Members of Pusat Ehsan were entertained with cultural performances by UBD, which included the "Pak Mamat Ada Kebun" song and the traditional "Adai-Adai" dance involving 18 students from Pusat Ehsan.

According to one of the UBD students, Haryani binti Haji Mohammad, the event was a project-based learning and was part of their assignment aimed at giving back to the special children and to teach them something new.

"We wanted these children to learn and understand the local culture and tradition so that they would be able to adapt in the future. Since a number of us have attended few workshops in the previous years, we think that this is an opportunity for us to spread what we have learnt to these children and teach them to appreciate our culture," she added.

"It was a wonderful experience for all of us as it is our first time; as UBD students, working and spending times with these special need children and it really -opened our eyes. The children and staff members here. are very friendly and the experiences we shared today will be well-treasured".

In addition to focussing on the cultural aspects, the performances also allowed the professional teachers to experience experimental learning through on-site and hand-on activity, as well as enhance the pedagogical capacity of training programme in the local context.

Weeks .before the actual performance, the students organised few activities with some of the children where they were taught on how to make potpourri, as well as creating animal props that can be used as parts of their learning tools.

--Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin