Minister of Education Datin Seri Setia Dr Romaizah Mohd Salleh during the Muzakarah session. - BB
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN: Minister of Education Datin Seri Setia Dr Romaizah Mohd Salleh on Wednesday (Jan 14) shared students’ achievements in the fields of technology, innovation and entrepreneurship at the national, regional and international levels during the Muzakarah session between the MoE and Legislative Council members.
Recapping student achievements in 2025, the minister highlighted that the CIPTA Awards (Creative, Innovative Product and Technology Advancement) 2025, held under the patronage of Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah Hassanal Bolkiah, the Crown Prince and Senior Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office, saw the participation of 16 student teams in Local Category 3 and 21 teams in the Smart Junior Category.
Paduka Seri Begawan Sultan Science College and Chung Hua Secondary School, Kuala Belait, successfully won the Gold Medal and the Sustainable Energy Award in their categories. Meanwhile, the Brunei ICT Awards (BICTA) 2025 recorded a high level of student participation, with a total of 88 entries comprising 50 entries from the Primary School Category, 46 from the Secondary School Category and 18 from the Tertiary Education Category.
She explained that six winning teams from BICTA 2025 represented Brunei Darussalam at the Asia-Pacific ICT Alliance (APICTA) competition organised by the Taipei Computer Association (TCA) in December 2025. The DualFarm AI project by students of Paduka Seri Begawan Sultan Science College in the Senior Student Category emerged as the overall winner.
Meanwhile, two Merit Awards were won by Lambak Kanan Jalan 49 Primary School for The Bright Buddies 49 project in the Junior Student Category, and Universiti Teknologi Brunei (UTB) for its PsychoBoard project in the Tertiary Education Category.
In the Celik-Biz competition for primary schools and the BigStart 2025 competition for secondary schools, organised by the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Centre (EIC), the minister said student participation also showed a notable increase.
She added that the Institute of Brunei Technical Education (IBTE) School of Hospitality and Tourism brought honour to the nation by being awarded ‘Best of Nation’ at WorldSkills Asia 2025 in Taipei. At the same time, an IBTE student also received two prestigious recognitions – the Medallion of Excellence and the Best of Nation Award – at WorldSkills Asean 2025 in Manila, Philippines.
The minister said 2025 was a meaningful year, as the MoE successfully achieved several significant accomplishments through strategic collaboration and the integrated commitment of all stakeholders.
Among these achievements were the publication of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Education Guidelines book, launched by Sultan Hassanal during the 35th Teachers’ Day Celebration in 2025.
The ministry also successfully organised the 53rd Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Council Conference (SEAMEC 53), themed ‘Greening Education for a Sustainable Southeast Asia: Empowering Change Through Collective Action’, officiated by Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah.
In conjunction with the conference, the Greening Education Plan 2025–2035 was launched and officiated by Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah.
The ministry hosted the 14th Asean Schools Games (ASG14), which saw the participation of 10 Asean countries. The event involved approximately 1,000 student-athletes, including 153 participants from Brunei Darussalam, competing across eight sporting disciplines.
“Brunei Darussalam recorded its best achievement since first participating in the games, winning a total of 18 medals,” she added.
Meanwhile, at the 32nd Public Service Day celebration in 2025, the MoE made history by winning the Gold Award for the first time in the Prime Innovation Award (Anugerah Inovasi Perdana – AIP), in addition to receiving a Bronze Award and a Consolation Award. This achievement represents significant recognition of the capability and competitiveness of ministry personnel in driving innovation, and reflects a continued commitment to fostering a culture of excellence.
In terms of higher education institutions, the minister noted that they have also achieved numerous commendable accomplishments.
The year 2025 marked the 40th anniversary of Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD). In line with its journey as a premier higher education institution, UBD introduced a new curriculum, GenBESTARI, which will commence in the 2026/2027 academic session. The curriculum emphasises a balance between academic excellence and human skills development, aiming to produce well-rounded graduates prepared to face future challenges.
UBD has also advanced with the establishment of the UBD Sustainability Living Lab, an innovative and strategic platform designed to address societal and industry challenges.
UBD also recorded significant improvement in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2026, moving from the 501-600 band last year to the 351-400 band this year. UBD is also ranked among the top seven universities in South-East Asia, with strong achievements in research quality, reflecting its commitment to cross-disciplinary studies in areas such as AI, genomics and energy.
In line with research development, Universiti Teknologi Brunei (UTB) emphasised industry collaboration in research and innovation through initiatives such as the Solar Farm project and the Electric Vehicle (EV) project on campus. These efforts support the nation’s green agenda and position UTB as a model university for sustainable technology.
UTB also made its debut in the THE World University Rankings 2025. Its latest position in the QS World University Rankings 2026 places UTB ninth among engineering and technology universities in Asean.
Meanwhile, Universiti Islam Sultan Sharif Ali (Unissa) has shown improvement in the World University Rankings for Innovation (WURI), attaining the 201st position, with Top Three rankings in Technology Development and Application and Top 19 in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) trends.
Unissa continues to lead research in halal authentication and food sciences, where the implementation of halal detection technology and research towards regional halal standards is expected to positively impact the halal assurance system in Brunei Darussalam and globally. – Borneo Bulletin/ANN
