BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

HIS Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam yesterday awarded five students with the prestigious Sultan’s Scholar at Istana Nurul Iman.

During a presentation ceremony, the monarch handed out this year’s scholarships to Izyan Nayli Hj Abd ‘Aziz, Muhammad Nasruddin Hj Sulaiman, Nurul Syadirah Awang Sayang, Rozana Awang Mustafa and Ak Ahmad Faris Ramadhani Pg Hj Sella-huddin.

Also attending the event were His Royal Highness Crown Prince Hj Al-Muhtadee Billah, the Senior Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and His Royal Highness Prince ‘Abdul Malik.

Four of the awardees will be furthering their studies in the United Kingdom (UK), while one will pur-sue his studies in Egypt.

Izyan Nayli, who recently completed her A Levels at Cardiff Sixth Form College in Wales, will be pursuing a course in Physical Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge.

Muhammad Nasruddin, who recently completed his A Levels at Tutong Sixth Form Centre, will pursue his education in Chemistry at the University of Oxford.

Nurul Syadirah, who completed her A Levels at the Harrogate Ladies’ College under the Special Scholarship Scheme for Human Resource Development Fund, will now be undertaking a course in Mathematics, Operational Research, Statistics and Economics (MORSE) at the University of Warwick.

Meanwhile, Rozana who recently completed her studies at Sayyidina Ali Secondary School, will continue her studies in Phy-sics at Imperial College London.

Ak Ahmad Faris Ramadhani will take a course in Takhassus Al-Quran Wal Qiraat at the Mahad Qirat, Al Azhar, Shoubra in Egypt after completing his studies at Institut Tahfiz Al-Quran Sultan Hj Hassanal Bolkiah.

Since 2013, the Yayasan has widened the Sultan’s Scholar scheme for recipients to pursue PhDs. Two recipients under the Sultan’s scholar are doing their PhDs.

Sultan’s Scholar Muhammad Shu’aib Hj Kamaluddin, who completed his course in Physics at the University College London with First Class Honours, will now proceed to continue his PhD in Orga-nic Materials for Electronics Appli-cations in England.

In addition, he received a cheque of $15,000 from Yayasan for achieving First Class Honours degree and as an incentive to continue his PhD course.

During the ceremony, the monarch took the opportunity to mingle with the recipients and their parents before taking a group photo.

A total of 36 recipients have been awarded the scholarships since the scheme was introduced in 2006. The scholarships are offered to not more than five students at a time and they must be citizens of Brunei.

The Sultan’s Scholar scheme is one of the most prestigious scholarships offered in the sultanate, awarded to students who achieved excellent results in their A Levels or its equivalent.

Selected students must also be active in extra-curricular activities and community work in the coun-try to be granted the scholarships.

The Brunei Times