BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

A NEW geography textbook for Year 10 students has been published by the Curriculum Development Department, Ministry of Education.

The textbook, titled “Geography for Brunei Darussalam Year 10”, was designed to fulfil the needs of local Year 10 and Year 11 students who are studying Geography at the Cambridge O Level examination level.

Acting Head of Publishing Unit at CDD Halipah Hj Hussin yesterday said that the textbook could be used by students between Year Nine and Year 11, but that it was “best suited for Year 10 express stream students”.

“But, it also touches upon some Year 11 geography syllabus topics,” Halipah explained.

The new textbook is a follow-up to the ministry’s “Geography for Brunei Darussalam Year 9” textbook (published last year), and explores “Theme B: People, Food and Settlement”.

Among the topics included in the textbook are world population growth and population structure, farming systems, urban land use, urban growth and urban change.

Halipah added that the publication of the local geography textbooks meant that the nation no longer needed to rely on imported textbooks, such as the “Interactive Geography” textbook series from Singapore, which were previously used by most of the upper secondary geography students in Brunei.

Study material in the textbook has also been modified to include some relevant localised content — one such example is the inclusion of shrimp farming sites in Brunei.

Various bookshops contacted by The Brunei Times yesterday reported that the geography textbook is currently being sold for $35.

MoE has been actively releasing new textbooks since 2008, as an effort to better accommodate the National Education System for the 21st Century (SPN21).

The Brunei Times