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In its vision towards quality education
and dynamic nation and carrying
out its mission of delivering holistic
education to achieve fullest potential
for all, the Ministry of Education (MoE)
has taken various initiatives to enhance
students’ performance and teachers’
competencies
through
numerous
platforms to ensure education in
Brunei Darussalam is at par with
international standards.
The ministry continuously supports
schools and teachers in strengthening
students’ knowledge and skills. This
is aligned to its Strategic Plan 2018-
2022, which is set with the objectives of
transforming the organisation through
a performance driven culture for
growth and success, providing equal
and equitable access to higher learning
for opportunities to quality education,
as well as engaging and involving
stakeholders for shared accountability
in the learning development of its
learners.
Primary and secondary education
initiatives spearhead these strategic
actions and will be continuously
improved with emphasis on teachers’
and school leaders’ professional
development.
Brunei Darussalam is ranked third
in all domains of the Programme for
International Student Assessment
(PISA) among the 79 participating
countries. Overall results have placed
Brunei in the 60
th
place for Reading,
51
st
place for Mathematics, and 50
th
for
Science, and Brunei is one of the only
three ASEAN member countries that
administered the study in the English
Language.
In addition, there will be efforts in this
plan to embed and further support
technology in education, aspects of
entrepreneurship and innovation, as
well as interest in STEAM (Science,
Technology, Engineering, the Arts and
Mathematics).
The outbreak of COVID-19 brought
about a great impact on educational
institutions globally and Brunei
was no exception with the ministry
announcing the long closure of schools
as part of containing the spread of
the virus in the early stages of the
pandemic.
For some higher learning institutions,
the campuses remained open and
essential services were continuously
provided. However, they had to
implement and adapt to new norms
instinctively.
Alternative learning pathways were
implemented by the ministry to
mitigate the impact in education. This
was to ensure minimal interruption to
education, which was done by shifting
to online classes or e-learning as well as
home-based learning (HBL).
HBL was offered to students who
did not have access to the Internet
or could not afford to purchase
computers and mobile phones for
online learning.
Having to face the unprecedented
circumstances for the first time gave
the opportunity for the MoE to try
the educational technologies and the
best way of implementation through
understanding the problems and
challenges that would be faced to carry
out online learning.
Schools began to offer various
educational
technology
platforms
including Google Classroom, Seesaw
Class, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Edmodo,
Video Conferencing, E-mail, Google
Docs, WhatsApp and other compatible
applications, while the ministry also set
out research initiatives to understand
how to deal with the situation and do
better if it needs to be done again in the
future.
The Authority for Info-communications
Technology Industry of Brunei Darussalam
(AITI) collaborated with the Ministry
of Transport and Infocommunications
(MTIC) as well as the MoE and initiated a
donation drive to support online learning
and provide assistance to students in
need, while the Ministry of Finance
and Economy (MoFE) and MoE in
cooperation with Unified National
Networks Sdn Bhd (UNN) increased
capacity on fixed broadband in the
country to enable access for students’
online learning.
The MoE also worked together with
DST to ensure students’ learning
experience was more accessible
online with EduPack, an add-on pack
available for all DST Easi, Mobi and
GO!broadband
subscribers,
with
several general apps accessible.
Following the country’s success in
containing the outbreak, school re-
opening was done in stages.
The MoE and Ministry of Religious
Affairs (MoRA) continuouslymonitored
the implementation of the teaching
and learning operation to ensure
it was functioning properly, and
emphasised on two important aspects
- social distancing and self-hygiene as
well as complying to the guidelines set
by the Ministry of Health (MoH).
These include temperature checks
before entering the school premises,
providing hand sanitisers in strategic
locations around schools, suspending
group activities, wearing face masks,
and practicing social distancing.
Updates on the education landscape in Brunei Darussalam.
LYNA MOHAMMAD
Striving for Quality