Azlan Othman

The COVID-19 pandemic has encouraged and accelerated innovation and advancement in the digital sphere, requiring improved digital literacy and understanding the social aspects of technological adaptation in daily lives. This was the message from guest of honour Minister of Education Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Hamzah bin Haji Sulaiman at the opening of the 4th School Leaders Convention 2022 on Tuesday.

“As we continue to cope with the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen how it has revealed multifaceted challenges and learning opportunities that bring about adaptive and transformative leadership, especially in managing crisis and change,” he said.

The minister added, “While uncertainties still lie in how this pandemic will reshape society globally, one thing for certain is how it encourages and accelerates innovation and advancement in the digital sphere, and more importantly reminding us that taking care of our educators’ and students’ well-being is imperative when maintaining a sense of normality in schools.

“Therefore, rethinking educators’ and students’ digital citizenship competence is highly critical as part of understanding and improving the whole systems thinking. We have seen the evolution of the use of educational technology as more students are being educated through relevant and suitable online learning platforms. Such innovation has made the prospect of blended learning taking a more prominent role as our schools adjust to the post-pandemic world.”

The Ministry of Education (MoE) on Tuesday held the 4th School Leaders Convention 2022.

The convention held on March 22, 24 and 26 in hybrid sessions (virtual and physical) is organised jointly by the Department of Educators Management and the Department of Schools, MoE.

Also present were Deputy Minister of Education Datin Seri Paduka Dr Hajah Romaizah binti Haji Mohd Salleh, permanent secretaries, vice chancellors, rector, deputy permanent secretaries, heads of department and heads of cluster from MoE.

More than 635 participants and invitees comprising primary and secondary school leaders from government, private colleges and sixth form centres of the MoE as well as schools from the Islamic Studies Department of the Ministry of Religious Affairs (MoRA) attended the convention.

Themed ‘Quality Leaders, Quality Education’, the convention aimed to enhance the instructional leadership and professionalism of school leaders.

The convention also carried a subtheme ‘Digital Citizenship’, aiming to provide awareness and understanding of the concept of digital citizenship and generate support towards digital well-being in the school community.

Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Hamzah said, “The development of digital citizenship competency and fluency, when blended learning is enacted at scale, requires establishing effective forms of online education.

“School leaders and teachers need to have a good understanding of the social, emotional and affective aspects of technology-based education, and feel confident in their capacity to respond appropriately.

“All these call for school leaders to understand systems-thinking in ensuring that the inter-connectedness brings about collective efficacy, so you are able to impact your school with sustainable and long-lasting growth towards quality education.”

The convention began with a recitation of Surah Al-Fatihah and a Doa Selamat followed by a welcoming speech from Acting Director of Schools, MoE Dr Sheikh Lukman bin Sheikh Abdul Hamid, as the convention’s Co-chairperson. This was followed by a speech by the guest of honour and the official opening of the convention as well as the launching of the Brunei Darussalam Learning Support Guidebook.

Guest and keynote speaker, the founder of the DQ Institute and creator of the concept and framework of Digital Intelligence (DQ) and world-leading expert in digital skills and child online safety, Dr Yuhyun Park spoke on “Global Standards For Digital Skills”.

A dialogue session then followed between the heads of department and school leaders co-chaired by Deputy Permanent Secretary (Core Education) at the MoE Aliuddin bin Haji Abdul Rahman and Deputy Permanent Secretary (Higher Education) at the MoE Dr Chin Wei Keh.

The convention’s second day continues online today via Microsoft Teams with a live Q&A session with the keynote speaker. The morning session will be continued by a presentation and workshop on digital citizenship for schools led by the Director of Curriculum Development, MoE.

As a continuation of a workshop held in November 2021, this segment aims to identify the digital citizenship component in the Brunei Darussalam educational system through in-depth discussions, and study relevant cases to uncover insights and develop policies and procedures in implementing digital citizenship in schools nationwide.

Meanwhile, the afternoon session will see three presentations, namely the summary of the digital citizenship workshop from the Department of Curriculum Development, Blended Learning Models from the Education Technology Centre and decision-making by the School Leaders Council.

The appointment of new school leaders and the presentation of school incentives to government schools that have achieved overall performance in the examinations will be held on the convention’s final day.

Azlan Othman

April expects to see an above normal amount of rainfall, exceeding 34mm.

This was revealed during the virtual weather forum titled ‘Early Warning and Early Action For Stronger Resilience’ to mark World Meteorological Day 2022 yesterday.

The panel members comprised Brunei Darussalam Meteorological Department (BDMD) meteorological officer Nurulinani binti Haji Jahari, National Disaster Management Center (NDMC) disaster management officer Awangku Muhammad Naaim Syafii bin Pengiran Haji Besman and disaster preparedness coordinators (DPC) member Mohamad Sufhidin bin Mohamad Sufian.

The amount of rainfall is expected to be at the normal level of 210mm-310mm in May and 190-290mm in June.

The monsoon transition period also expects to see frequent thunderstorm activities with the risk of flash floods, slippery road conditions and lightning strikes.

The forum included a presentation on the Inter-Monsoon season, which is expected to start earlier than expected.

It was highlighted that the increase in disasters is due to changing climate, population growth, and urbanisation, exposing more and more people and economic assets to hydrometeorological hazards. The saddest part of this is that these disasters claim countless lives annually, despite early warnings being issued.

“People tend to underestimate the seriousness of weather warnings. There is a lack of appreciation and understanding of the impacts. An accurate and timely weather warning does not guarantee safety of lives,” the members pointed out.

For this reason, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has recommended impact-based forecast and warning to be implemented and practiced by national meteorological and hydrological services globally.

Impact-based forecasting involves combining information on hazards, exposure and vulnerability to identify potential impacts and support decision-making.

Long-term forecast information is very important for the initial preparation of the agencies concerned if necessary. For example, if rainfall is expected to increase above the usual amount due to La-Nina conditions, then the agencies and public can make early preparations to face potential floods.

Brunei Darussalam is affected by two types of monsoon cycles – Northeast Monsoon and Southwest Monsoon. Between these two monsoons, the Sultanate experiences the monsoon transition period.

The panellists pointed out, “As we approach the end of March, we can already feel the presence of the monsoon transition period where we experience thunderstorm weather conditions – especially in the evening into the night. The onset of the inter-monsoon is a little early this year.

This transition period is expected to continue until May. The onset of Southwest monsoon is expected to occur around June or possibly late May.

“Around June, the Southwest monsoon is expected to begin, with winds from the southwest becoming more dominant. So the weather will typically move from Miri area and affect Belait District first, before spreading to the districts of Tutong, Brunei-Muara and then Temburong.

Often, there is rain with strong winds, called squally weather. June is also usually the beginning of an active typhoon system.”

World Meteorological Day is marked every March 23 to commemorate the enforcement of the WMO convention in 1950. The celebration also recognises the National Meteorological and Hydrological Service’s contribution to the safety and well -being of communities. Each year, the World Meteorological Day celebration focusses on a theme chosen specifically by the WMO.

The forum aimed to further promote weather warnings and advisory issued by the Weather Forecast Centre and encourage cooperation as well as collaborative efforts between authorities and the community in dealing with natural disasters.

It also aimed to increase public awareness and knowledge of the existing standard operation procedure (SOP) carried out when a natural disaster strikes. Attendees included representatives from weather and climate services user groups, such as those from first and safety responders, economic and industry groups, construction companies, insurance companies, small and medium enterprises as well as the media.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Transport and Infocommunications Dato Seri Setia Awang Abdul Mutalib bin Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Setia Dato Paduka Haji Mohd Yusof attended an online mass recitation of Surah Yaasin and Tahlil held in conjunction with World Meteorological Day.

The afternoon event was followed by the reading of Doa Selamat and Doa seeking protection against COVID-19.