His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, the Chancellor of Universiti Teknologi Brunei, in a titah on Saturday called for all higher learning institutions to focus on their recruitment process for academic staff, ensuring that they are qualified and can contribute to the institution’s strategic plans and nation building.
“The education system’s quality cannot exceed the quality of the teaching staff,” said the monarch during the UTB convocation ceremony at the International Convenction Centre, Berakas. “It is vital to ensure those recruited are qualified and able to contribute to strategic plans and nation building,” said His Majesty.
Meanwhile, the monarch also advised UTB to monitor programmes to ensure relevancy to current and future needs. His Majesty said the Doctor of Business Administration programme, which UTB will introduce in January next year as an alternative to a PhD, highlighted the importance of lifelong learning.
The new programme will meet the action research needs in the real business world, added the monarch, noting it enriches the research ecosystem and improves the results of the university’s research.
His Majesty also welcomes the restructuring of research centres and UTB research thrusts in alignment with global best practices to improve the number of citations of the university’s publications. “The establishment of the Centre of Green Technology and Sustainable Research is hoped to contribute towards this,” said the monarch.
His Majesty also congratulated UTB for its entry into the Times Higher Education Impact Ranking for the first time.
The monarch also noted that UTB will continue to introduce innovative strategies in the internationalisation agenda, including the establishment of UTB Global office.
His Majesty expressed appreciation and thanked all members of UTB covering council and senate members, vice chancellor, core officers, academic members, officers and staff for their contribution and services.
His Majesty also congratulated graduates at the convocation on the completion of their studies and hopes it will be a catalyst towards future excellence. The monarch also congratulated parents and guardians as well as teaching staff who have consistently motivated the graduates to their success
