Bandar Seri Begawan - Brunei Darussalam hosted the 2nd Joint Working Group Meeting between the ministries of education of Brunei Darussalam and Singapore yesterday. The talks took place at the Ministry of Education building in Berakas.
The eight-member delegation from the Ministry of Education of Singapore which will be in the country until tomorrow is headed by the Ministry`s Permanent Secretary, Mrs Tan Ching Yee. Her delegation includes the Director-General of Education, Director of Schools, Director of Curriculum Planning and Development and Director of Planning.
Brunei Darussalam`s delegation was led by Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Education, whose delegation included the Vice Chancellor of Universiti Brunei Darussalam, the Ministry`s Deputy Permanent Secretaries, Director General of Education and Directors.
During the meeting, the delegation from both countries discussed recent developments in education. For Brunei Darussalam, Hj Suhaila bin Hj Abd Karim, Director of Planning, Research and Development gave a presentation on the Education System of Brunei Darussalam (the 2P Century National Education System) and its review (the 21st Century National Education System), while Singapore`s Mr Chee Hong Fat, Director of Planning, spoke on Recent Reforms in English Language (EL), Vocational Education and School Management.
A brief report on Joint Working Group activities/programmes in 2006 and 2007 was presented by Ms Chang Hwee Nee, Deputy Permanent Secretary (Planning and Policy), where issues such as School Twinning Programme, Attachment Programme for English language teachers in Singapore (June 25-July 27, 2007), Inaugural Singapore-Brunei Friendship Camp (November 12-16, 2007), Attachment of Brunei MOE officials in Singapore (May 21-24, 2007) and NIE`s International Leaders in Education Programme were discussed.
The proposed Joint Working Group activities/programmes for 2008 for the two countries was also discussed.
The Joint Working Group Meeting aims to further promote the exchanges in education, as well as to consolidate and strengthen the educational exchanges and cooperation between Brunei Darussalam and Singapore. Such move has been proposed in the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Government of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam and the Government of the Republic of Singapore, signed in February 2006.
The fields of cooperation cover school linkages and exchanges through the School Twinning Programme, joint student cultural, sports, adventure and leadership activities, attachment and secondment of teachers to schools and institutions in both countries, training programmes for teachers and school leaders, and exchanges and cooperation between universities in areas of mutual interest.
Source: www.brudirect.com (16 Januari 2008)
