The Brunei government is currently introducing efforts to diversify economy and lessen dependency on diminishing oil and gas resources. A sum of BND 4.6 billion annual budget with BND 900 million for national development purposes has been allocated for the fiscal year 2007/2008. The main focus of the 2007/2008 budget is safety and security, consolidating the private sector and non-oil economic development such as agriculture, fisheries and entrepreneurship, human resource development and youth development, as well as developing infrastructure and public facilities such as schools, roads, civil aviation and ports.
The Government’s commitment in education is clearly reflected as top priority since BND 986.7 million has been allocated for education, HRD and capacity-building. A special budget allocation of BND 10 million has been provided for this fiscal year to promote research and development.
HESA figures indicate that 940 Bruneians students are in the UK in 2005-2006 compared to 805 in 2004/2005. The main market in Brunei is undergraduate which is projected to grow. The most popular subjects are Medicine/Health Science, Computer Science/IT, Engineering, Business/Administration Studies, Law, Education and International Relations.
The Education system in Brunei is modelled on the British system with Brunei-Cambridge GCE A-Levels used as the main basis for matriculation. Tertiary education is readily available in Brunei at University of Brunei Darussalam, Institut Teknologi Brunei, the PAPRSB College of Nursing or one of the technical or vocational training centres for those applicable. Local vocational qualifications from these institutions are based on the UK National Certificate, National Diploma and HND. The undergraduate degree is a four year Honours Degree programme and Postgraduate programmes run for a duration of 12 to 18 months.
Overseas study market is essentially scholarship driven with Britain remains the main study destination. Placing scholarship students in world-renowned higher education institutions has now become a priority. Four new government scholarships schemes have been introduced to strengthen the existing scholarships programmes and produce competitive human resources of high calibre in Brunei Darussalam. The schemes are Human Resource Fund, Brunei Administration Services Scholarship, ‘A’ Level Jerudong International School Scholarship Scheme and a scholarship scheme to the National University of Singapore High School of Mathematics and Science.
The Overseas In-Service Training scheme is offered to government officers who need to upgrade their skills and broaden their knowledge. The scheme is intended for undergraduate and postgraduate studies. In the current BND 900 million allocation for National Development Plan, BND 20.7 million fund is allocated for various human resource development activities by various ministries. A record number of 387 students have been awarded scholarships to overseas universities under the Ministry of Education scholarship programme for the 2007/2008 session whereby BND 17.3 million have been allocated.
The Ministry of Defence scholarships, allocated to top O levels and A levels students, are considered prestigious and are for entry to top universities in UK, US, Canada and Australia. The Sultan’s Foundation Scholarships are also offered to top A levels students. Brunei Shell Petroleum (BSP) offers scholarships for degree and postgraduate studies in the UK and Australia in geophysics and engineering courses.
Human resources are central to the successful transformation of Brunei Darussalam into a diversified industrial economy. Currently, there is a shortage of skilled workforce in the country hence greater emphasis is placed upon education and capacity building activities. The main areas of interest in human resources development are managerial and industrial skills, with particular emphasis on entrepreneurial skills as well as vocational and technical training. Sectors that have strong training needs are Information and Communication Technologies, medical and health, tourism, engineering – construction and public facility sector, oil & gas related industries, finance, agriculture, fisheries and forestry.
The Ministry of Education is in the process of building more schools and institutions of higher learning, including technical and vocational institutions, as well as upgrading the existing institutions.
Sekolah Vokasional Wasan was established in July 2007 to provide education and training in agriculture, fisheries, forestry and other related fields. Programmes at National Trade Certificate (NTC) level in Crops Production & Fish Husbandry are currently offered. Other programmes at National Trade Certificate levels will be introduced in stages, depending on the requirement, availability of teaching staff and other factors: NTC in Poultry & Livestock, NTC in Food Processing, NTC in Agricultural Mechanics, NTC in Seafood Processing and NTC in Forestry.
Institute Technology Brunei (ITB) was planning to visit a number of UK universities last June to see the latest building infrastructure and facilities as they are entering into its second phase of expansion and are looking at possible partners for joint articulation programmes. The current articulation arrangement with Queens University of Belfast (QUB) has now been extended to MEng programme.
The establishment of UNISSA or Universiti Islam Sultan Sharif Ali, the second university in Brunei had open up more choices and opportunities to younger generation to obtain higher education in different fields.
Universiti Brunei Darussalam’s (UBD) Institute of Medicine plans to expand its undergraduate courses to include nursing, biomedical and life sciences, physiotherapy, physician assistant, nutrition and dietetics and paramedics in the near future.
The British Council ceased to operate in Brunei since April 2005. However, there is continued support for UK education through funding of an Education Promotion Officer post, under the British High Commission, with professional management from British Council Malaysia. Education exhibitions continue in Brunei as an optional leg added to the Malaysian events. Other promotional activities are done through school visits and maintenance of a small public area for counselling and reference materials.
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