James Kon
A total of 287 students from government and private primary and secondary schools, colleges as well as sixth form centres received recognition for obtaining outstanding results in the Brunei-Cambridge GCE ‘A’ Level, GCE ‘O’ Level and Primary School Assessment (PSR) examinations during the Outstanding Achievers’ Award Ceremony 2022 at Musyawarah Hall, International Convention Centre in Berakas yesterday.
Minister of Education Datin Seri Setia Dr Hajah Romaizah binti Haji Mohd Salleh presented the awards in a ceremony organised by the Ministry of Education (MoE) through the Department of Schools, the Department of Examination, the Department of Private Education and the Department of Special Education in collaboration with Cambridge Assessment International Education (CAIE).
The ceremony began with the recitation of Al-Quran verses by Paduka Seri Begawan Sultan Science College student Ahmad Danish Hakimi bin Shufiady.
Director of Schools Marina Chek binti Bujang broke down the categories of recipients by noting, “Seventy-two students received Cambridge Outstanding Achiever Awards, 12 students received International Baccalaureate Award, 45 students received Excellence in GCE ‘A’ Level Award, 82 students received Excellence in GCE ‘O’ Level Award, one student received Pearson BTEC Level 2 Extended Certificate Award, 60 students received Excellence in PSR Award and 15 students received Special Awards from the Special Education Unit.”
She said excellence involves a continuous transformation for the better, and the process never ends as it reflects a hope, desire or an ultimate direction for a student.
“Excellence is the result of an attitude that always wants to do the best at all times, spaces, places and levels. From that, students should make excellence a habit, not just an action,” she said.
The MoE, she added, has always strived to provide the best service by implementing initiatives in building excellence for students focussing on achieving academic and human excellence.
“The MoE, through the Department of Schools and other departments always prioritises systematic implementation of initiatives and programmes to address post-pandemic education issues,” she said.
The initiatives and programme aim to close the learning deficit through analysing data from the Student Learning Survey for the purpose of planning learning recovery, the use of literacy and numeracy data to operate the Learning Support Programme for target students, create the School Attendance Management System (SAMS) to identify the reasons for incidents of not attending school, allowing departments to work together to reduce the number of students dropping out and activate the Aafiah and Kalinga line for any questions, advice and consultation in dealing with learning problems, personal challenges, family issues for the well-being and welfare of students.
The ceremony was an extension of appreciation to students who have excelled academically as an encouragement for the future.
