Education in South-East Asia

Lorraine Pe Symaco, Colin Brock, Lorraine Pe Symaco

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781441183118
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Éducation
• Subtopic: Éducation comparative

Education in South-East Asia is a comprehensive critical reference guide to education in South East Asia. With chapters written by an international team of leading regional education experts, the book explores the education systems of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam. The diverse range and forms of culture, religion and politics embedded in the region are exhibited in the distinctive education systems that inter-relate in one of the most integrated regions in the world. Including a comparative introduction to the issues facing education in the region as a whole and guides to available online datasets, this Handbook will be an essential reference for researchers, scholars, international agencies and policy-makers at all levels.

1

Brunei Darussalam: Planning for Educational Transformation and ICT in Education

Murray Brown and Haji Abdul Rahim Derus

Introduction

Countries around the world are grappling with how education systems can meet the wide range of expectations and demands that are emerging in our increasingly complex and interconnected world, and Brunei Darussalam, although already a wealthy country by South-East Asian standards, is no exception. Information Communication Technology (ICT) in education and its integration in education are seen by many as a powerful way of addressing these challenges.

This paper uses a framework developed by Robert Kozma (2008) as a way of contextualizing and describing changes in education in Brunei with a particular reference to strategic planning for education and ICT. Kozma has created a conceptual framework, ‘The Knowledge Ladder’, as a reference point for educational policy makers to plan for educational policy to support economic and social development over time.

Kozma has aligned his knowledge ladder to an economic development ladder developed by Jeffrey Sachs (2008). The economic development ladder describes the stages of economic growth that a country may go through as subsistence, commercial, emerging and information. Sachs identifies four factors that drive economic growth: capital accumulation, capital deepening, high quality labour and knowledge creation. As economies develop, their growth moves from a dependence on physical capital to one that increasingly depends on the development of human capital, that is, the development of the skills, knowledge, creativity and innovation of its people.

Building on these ideas, Kozma (2008: 6) notes that ‘Educational change can contribute to development goals by:

• Providing the skills needed for improved health and welfare and to participate in the formal economy: the basic education approach.
• Increasing the knowledge level of the workforce and citizenry and their ability to use technology: the knowledge acquisition approach.
• Increasing the ability of the workforce and citizenry to use knowledge to add value to economic output and apply it to solve complex, real-world problems: the knowledge deepening approach.
• Increasing the capability of the workforce and citizenry to innovate and produce new knowledge and by increasing the capability of citizens to benefit from this new knowledge: the knowledge creation approach.’

These overlapping and complementary approaches to economic development have different implications for education.

History of Education in Brunei¹

Formal education in Brunei Darussalam began in 1912. Since then it has evolved over the years to meet a range of challenges. The first school in Brunei was a Malay medium primary school established in 1912, followed by schools in other parts of the country. In 1916 the first Chinese vernacular school was established, followed by the establishment of the first non-government English medium primary school in 1931 in Seria. By 1941 there was a mixture of 32 Malay, Chinese and English primary schools, but there were no secondary schools.

With a mainly subsistence economy, the education system was primarily engaged in delivering basic education. Within the Brunei economy it should be noted that the oil industry, which provides most of Brunei’s wealth, was in Sach’s terms already part of the commercial and emerging economy. Throughout Brunei’s economic development, the oil industry has always been more advanced in economic terms than the rest of the country.

Along with the establishment of the Education Department in 1951, the first government English preparatory school was established in 1952, with students then progressing to the first English medium secondary school in 1953. The department was headed by the British Resident but with the declaration of the Brunei Constitution in 1959 all internal affairs including education were put directly under the charge of His Majesty, Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien III. It was not until 1976 that the first local Malay became the Director of Education.

The First National Development Plan (1954–9) laid down the basic foundation for the infrastructure of Brunei’s current education system of six years of free education in Malay schools for Brunei Malay children aged 6–14 years, and three years of lower secondary and two years of upper secondary.

In the early 1950s the qualifications of local teachers were generally only at upper primary level. During the 1950s and 1960s, local teachers were trained at teacher training colleges in Malaysia. In 1956 a Teacher Training Centre was established and became the Brunei Malay Teacher’s College in 1960 and through the 1970s and 1980s was continually upgraded and developed, culminating in 1984 in the Sultan Hassaanal Bolkiah Institute of Education (SHBIE). This was then incorporated into the Faculty of Education in the University of Brunei Darussalam in 1988. In 1966, Malay medium secondary education became available with the establishment of the first Malay medium secondary school or Sekolah Menengah Pertama (SMMP).

In these early years the aim of schooling was to provide opportunities to learn and become literate. The focus of education was to provide knowledge and the basic skills of reading, writing and arithmetic as well as general knowledge in subjects such as geography, health science, handicraft and gardening. The curriculum and textbooks used were mainly from Malaysia and Singapore.

At lower secondary, English medium students sat the Lower Certificate of Education (LCE Exam) while Malay medium students sat the Sijil Rendah Pelajaran (SRP), both exams set by the Malaysian Examination Board. At Secondary 5 and Upper 6, English and Malay medium students sat the appropriate Malaysian examinations as well as a range of other technical and vocational examinations from the United Kingdom. In Kosma’s model, the education system reflected basic education but was moving towards the Knowledge Acquisition Phase.

Throughout the 1970s the Department of Education developed new sections and capabilities in response to demand, and the provision of free education was extended to six years of primary education followed by three years of lower secondary education.

Brunei achieved full independence in January 1984 and this provided the catalyst for the acceleration of reforms and developments in all aspects of education. In an effort to streamline Malay and English medium schooling systems and ensure high levels of proficiency in both English and Malay, the Bilingual Education policy was implemented in 1985. With its implementation, all government schools followed a common national curriculum from pre-school until pre-university. This policy was later extended to private schools, excluding international schools.

The curriculum from lower primary to lower secondary became more general and all subjects up to lower primary were taught in Malay except English language. In 2008, lower primary mathematics also shifted to English. At the upper primary level all subjects were taught in English except Bahasa Melayu (Malay language), Islamic religious knowledge, physical education, art and history.

The Department of Education became part of the Ministry of Education and Health headed by a minister and there were further increases in size with new sections or units added or upgraded to departments. In 1989 the Ministry of Education and Health was split into two separate ministries.

During this period several higher educational institutions were established to provide for post-secondary and tertiary education. These were the University of Brunei Darussalam (UBD) in 1985, the Institute of Technology (ITB) 1986, technical and engineering colleges, vocational schools and the School of Nursing (1986). Wasan Vocational School (2005) and Universiti Islam Sultan Sharif Ali (UNISSA) 2007 were established to meet an ever increasing demand for technical vocational and higher education.

Increasingly, changes in the school curriculum focused on the emerging needs of the country for human resources with capabilities and skills in science and technology. Science became compulsory in 1988 at secondary level and in 1992 in upper primary.

The early 1990s also saw the introduction of ICT for the first time into the education system. This phase was characterized by computers and ICT being primarily used as a subject of learning in the school curriculum, with new subjects such as computer studies (1993) introduced at the secondary level, as well as increased emphasis on the teaching and learning of ICT across the curriculum. A range of special initiatives for technical and vocational education and new pedagogies were also used to try to improve the quality of instruction.

Throughout the 1990s there was also increasing localization of the school curriculum, certification and textbooks as well as a number of new bodies and departments to reflect these new aspirations and maturity within the system. These included the Brunei Darussalam National Qualifications Accreditation Council (1990), the Brunei Darussalam Technical And Vocational Educational Council (1991), the Department of Technical Education (1993), the Special Education Unit (1994), the Department of Co-Curriculum (1995), the Science Technology and Environment Partnership (STEP) Centre (1999), the Department of Information and Communication Technology (2001) and the Department of Planning and Estate Management (2002).

In 1997 an Inclusive Education policy was also implemented, making provision for pupils with special education needs to attend mainstream schools. By now students who obtained the required number of O levels could further their studies in Brunei-Cambridge GCE A levels, or enrol in technical and vocational institutions, the teacher training colleges or seek employment.

Within ICT, additional computer laboratories (or ICT labs) were built for primary and secondary schools. The ICT labs, library and staff room in schools were also connected to the internet under the Internet for Schools Project.

Increasingly in this phase of the use of ICT, including multimedia, the internet was used as a medium to enhance instruction or as a replacement for other media without changing the beliefs about the approaches to, and the methods of, teaching and learning.

The establishment of a separate Department of ICT (DICT) within the Ministry of Education was a key development and a major milestone on Brunei’s ICT journey. Approval was granted to establish the unit in 2001 and it became operational towards the end of 2002. This small team of five people with a specific focus on ICT was unique in Brunei’s ministries and was recognition of the increasing importance of ICT both within the Ministry and in schools. This phase of development fits the Knowledge Acquisition phase of the Knowledge Ladder moving towards Knowledge Deepening.

In 2003 a new Education Order was promulgated which aimed to develop an effective, efficient and equitable system of education that reflected the national philosophy of Malay Islamic Monarchy (MIB) as well as the needs of a modern, technological and ICT era. The importance of education was further reinforced in 2007 with the Compulsory Education Order which mandated that every Brunei child residing in the country above the age of six and who has not reached 15 receives compulsory education for at least nine years.

Due to a variety of strategies implemented by the Ministry of Education and parents becoming more aware of the value of education, the educational system had made a huge impact on Brunei society. By 2001 (Leete, 2008) most Bruneians (94 per cent) had attended school and 48 per cent had reached secondary level and above, compared to a generation before when 31 per cent of citizens had never attended school.

The success of the development of these educational opportunities has also seen a steady increase in literacy rates. These had risen from 69 per cent in 1971 to 94.7 per cent literacy in 2001.

The Brunei Education System

By the mid-2000s then, a comprehensive, free, effective and mature education system had been well established in the relatively short space of 50 years. The Brunei system is small and highly centralized, with schools and teachers considered part of the Ministry of Education. These government schools are the most important part of the system. There are also a significant number of private schools in Brunei (30 per cent) and several international schools offering a British and international curriculum working towards GSCE and A level/International Baccalaureate (IB) qualifications. As well, there are a number of religious schools or Arabic schools managed by the Ministry of Religious Affairs.

The Brunei education system is also relatively small and compact. In 2009 there were 256 schools across Brunei divided into four administrative zones. Of the 161 government schools, 119 are primary, 29 secondary, 12 post-secondary and three tertiary education. There were eight schools managed by the Ministry of Religious Affairs: two primary, four secondary, one post-secondary and one tertiary. There were 85 private schools, 81 of which were primary schools. There were 7087 government teachers: 47 teachers in religious schools and 2060 in private schools. There were 77,199 students in government schools, 2,652 in religious schools and 32,138 students in private schools (Ministry of Education, 2009)

By 2006 the citizens of Brunei were being provided with a minimum of 12 years of free education (seven primary and five secondary). The main emphasis at the primary level was on literacy, numeracy, science and physical education, as well as civic, spiritual and moral education. The bilingual policy was enabling children to acquire the national language, Malay, and English. English was enabling students to access a greater mass of information in a globalized world, and students were experiencing ICT to promote creativity and independent learning and enhance higher-order thinking skills. The upper primary curriculum strengthened the basic skills in formal education and bilingual competence. Learning was orientated toward the study and understanding of information related to the surroundings and the environment.

At the end of upper primary, students were prepared to cope with the variety of subjects offered in the secondary curriculum. At the end of their primary education, students (including those attending Arabic schools) sat for the Primary School Assessment or Pen...