BRUNEI-MUARA

PLANS are under way to convert the Katok Sixth Form Centre (PTE Katok) in Gadong into a secondary school for students residing in Kg Katok National Housing Scheme and those studying at Menglait Secondary School.

The move came as 449 Upper Six students from PTE Katok were transferred to the new Sengkurong Sixth Form Centre (PTE Sengkurong) on Jalan Mulaut in Mukim Sengkurong yesterday with the remaining Lower Six students slated to join in March.

A press statement from the Ministry of Education stated that PTE Katok will no longer function as a college for pre-university students after the transfer of pupils to PTE Sengkurong is complete. Instead, PTE Katok will be replaced with the Katok Secondary School.

The proposed Katok Secondary School aims to alleviate the problem of overcrowding at the nearby Menglait Secondary School as well as cater to A Levels students residing at the new Kg Katok National Housing Scheme. However, no further details were released by the ministry.

Built on a 12-acre land, PTE Katok was opened in August 2008. The $16.8 million sixth form college has 41 classrooms, science and language laboratories, gymnasium, audio-video theatre, library, and art and agricultural science rooms.

The growing number of A Level students at PTE Katok led to issues of overcrowding, prompting the $28.3 million construction of the new PTE Sengkurong that can accommodate up to 1,500 students from several mukims in Brunei-Muara and nearby villages in Tutong.

During the opening of PTE Sengkurong yesterday, Acting Education Minister Dato Seri Setia Hj Yussof Hj Ismail explained that the modern, but smaller, infrastructure at PTE Katok was suitable for the proposed Katok Secondary School.

He anticipated that more students residing in nearby areas, including Mukim Gadong “A” and “B“, Mukim Kilanas, Mukim Lumapas, Mukim Sengkurong and Mukim Pengkalan Batu, will attend Katok Secondary School to reduce overcrowding in Menglait Secondary School.

The Brunei Times