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.
