BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

VILLAGE heads and Penghulus play an important role in making sure their communities understand that sending their children to school everyday and on time is pertinent to avoid social ills in the future.

These social ills, said a senior officer from the Ministry of Education (MoE), can be a result of students eventually not being able to find jobs due to the lack of qualifications at school.

The Ministry’s Acting Director General of Education, Hj Abd Rahim Hj Derus, said these village heads and penghulus are close to the community, and are the first line of assistance the MoE is able to extend to to reach out to the community.

He was speaking with The Brunei Times in a sideline interview at a briefing with Brunei-Muara District community leaders on the primary education initiative yesterday.

Hj Abd Rahim said that speaking to village heads and penghulus are part of the ministry’s socialisation efforts to the public, because they believe that they are the first level of officers that can reach out to the parents.

He added the Department of Schools has been doing outreach to parents who have problems, such as financial problems, and are unable to meet the criteria of their children being at schools.

“We try to identify what their problems are. If we can assist within our own capacity, we will try to help by either providing transport or putting their children in hostels.

“That is why we are now reaching out to the village heads and penghulus, because they know the economic status of their residents and they can extend assistance towards them,’’ he explained.

The MoE, in collaboration with the Brunei-Muara District Office, held the meeting with about 50 village heads and penghulus in the Brunei-Muara District on the Primary Education Initiative, as a continuation following similar sessions held at Tutong and Temburong.

The event took place at the Dewan Teater, New Building at the Brunei-Muara District Office.

One of the objectives of the meeting was to give a briefing on the initiatives taken at the primary level of education in the efforts towards the realisation of Vision 2035.

The event also aimed to raise awareness among the public of the targets for the PSR (Primary School Assessment).

Also in attendance at the event was the Acting Brunei-Muara District Officer, Misle bin Hj Abdul Karim.

The Brunei Times