BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN: Minister of Education Dr Romaizah Mohd Salleh (pic) outlined the achievement of the Ministry of Education’s (MoE) digital transformation, sharing that the use of technology and infrastructure in classrooms include Internet networking, upgrading infrastructure, supplying devices, implementing smart classrooms, and the learning management system (LMS).
She said this on the eighth day of the First Meeting of the 22nd Session of the Legislative Council (LegCo) on Thursday (March 19), where LegCo member Mohamad Danial @ Tekpin Ya’akub touched on the progress of the ministry’s Digital Transformation Plan and efforts to strengthen financial literacy. LegCo member Mohd Salleh Othman also raised questions on strengthening financial literacy.
She added, “The MoE has developed a digital literacy standard and provided training for teachers. Additionally, a guidebook on AI Generative has been created.”
She said, “The MoE places great emphasis on financial literacy and entrepreneurship as essential 21st-Century skills. These efforts are being carried out through development of a financial competency framework, which spans from primary school through to higher education.
This ensures that students understand financial management concepts in a systematic way as well as national cooperation – this is an initiative supported by the National Financial Literacy Council (MKCK), involving interactive participation in financial awareness roadshows in collaboration with the Brunei Darussalam Central Bank.”
Regarding entrepreneurship, several activities have been implemented at the higher education level namely Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) has implemented the UBD Entrepreneurship Blueprint, which develops a student startup ecosystem, from the idea development phase through to prototyping and incubation.
UBD also integrates entrepreneurship elements through final-year projects and incubation programmes, including the success of commercialising research such as the AIquatic Technology Company.
Meanwhile, Universiti Islam Sultan Sharif Ali (UNISSA) requires entrepreneurship courses for all undergraduate students and Politeknik Brunei also organises an Entrepreneurship Bootcamp while Institute of Brunei Technical Education (IBTE) incorporates basic enterprise skills modules and hosts the IBTE Launch Entrepreneurship Challenge.
Meanwhile, the minister also shared that a study conducted a few years ago by the Research Department at the MoE indicated achieving five ‘A’ to ‘C’ in the PSR exam is not yet sufficient as a percentage to be carried forward to predict future success, such as achieving five ‘O’ Levels after five years.
Looking at the correlation between the percentage of ‘A’ to ‘C’ and five ‘O’ Levels, she said that it is more accurate to examine the percentage of ‘A’ to ‘B’ result where there is a correlation.
While the MoE publishes the percentage of ‘A’ to ‘C’ results, it also monitors the percentage of ‘A’ to ‘B’, believed to be a better indicator of students who are likely to achieve their five ‘O’ Levels in five years’ time.
The question was raised by LegCo member Dato Seri Setia Awang Suyoii Osman on what efforts the ministry is making to bridge the gap between the percentage of students who achieve five ‘A’ to ‘C’ in the PSR exam and the percentage of students who obtain at least five ‘O’ Levels and IGCSEs.
“I’ve observed that when students who score five ‘A’ to ‘C’ in PSR move on to secondary school, the percentage of those who achieve five ‘O’ Levels decreases,” he said. – Borneo Bulletin/ANN
