BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

MORE than 100 awards were given yesterday to students of Yayasan Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Secondary School (SMYSHHB) who excelled in academic and co-curricular activities (CCA.

Attending as the guest of honour in the event was managing director of Yayasan SMYSHHB, Hj Brahim Hj Ismail. Also present to celebrate the awards ceremony was Yang Amat Mulia Pengiran Anak Abdul Raqiib Yang Amat Mulia Pengiran Maharaja Setia Laila Diraja Shahibul Irshad Pengiran Anak Haji Abdul Rahim.

This year, SMYSHHB presented new awards to appreciate students who did well in specific fields such as the Best Readers category which was aimed at enhancing the reading skills of students.

The acting principal of SMYSHHB, Siew Kuan Keasberry, said ”the ability to read to learn allows them to transfer what they read to literacy and knowledge. Thus when they start schooling, it is important that students develop a passion for reading. The best reader award serves to motivate students to cultivate good reading habits so that they develop to be independent lifelong learners.’’

Students were also honoured with their involvement and excellent performance in CCA and their academics. One of the students who received awards in CCA was Md Edry Izz Ziqry Md Adiy Osmera.

He said, “The main goal to success is consistency, perseverance and your desire to succeed. To get your goal, you have to move on, move towards that goal although you might have a lot of challenges ahead.’’

Siew Kuan Keasberry said, “We want our students to enjoy while studying in school. Thus we want to incorporate theatrical performance into our current Drama and Music club.

She added, “The number of classes will increase from 14 to 19 with an additional class in each level. This is to reduce the class size and thus increase the teacher–student ratio so that every student shall receive more individual attention,’’ she said.

The event also saw some Malay and Korean traditional performances as well as a musical show performed by the students.

The awards giving ceremony was held at the SMYSHHB multipurpose hall which was also attended by parents and teachers of SMYSHHB.

The Brunei Times.