Secondary students with special needs recently completed a bootcamp to encourage creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship.
A prize presentation ceremony and a demo day for the third Bootcamp project for pre-vocational programme students was held at Yayasan Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Complex yesterday.
Acting Deputy Permanent Secretary (Policy and Corporate) at the Ministry of Education Professor Dr Noor Azam bin Orang Kaya Maha Bijaya Haji Othman said, “The Bootcamp programme has been carried out since 2021.”
He said it is an initiative of the Special Education Department in collaboration with the Entrepreneurship Innovation Centre, to develop the knowledge of students with special needs in the field of entrepreneurship and innovation.
The acting deputy permanent secretary said, “Through this programme, students with special needs can increase their self-confidence through teamwork-oriented activities and programme presentations,” adding that this produces innovative students that will later benefit from entrepreneurial skills and marketability.
“These students have shown their ability to produce products under the guidance of teachers,” said Professor Dr Noor Azam.
“The students were involved from building and producing the product, as well as its sales.”
“This proves that students with special needs can compete with the public if given the same opportunity,” he added. Some 68 students with special needs from 17 government secondary schools participated in this year’s bootcamp.
The ceremony was followed by the programme’s ‘Journey and Summary’ slideshow presentation.
Meanwhile, the best teams in five categories received prizes. Pehin Datu Seri Maharaja Secondary School won the most innovative award, Lambak Kiri Secondary School won the most persevering, Perdana Wazir Secondary School was the most independent and Sayyidina Umar Al-Khattab Secondary School was the most creative.
Products made by the students were also showcased during the event. – Azlan Othman
