BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

A TOTAL of 451 primary and secondary students from private institutions yesterday received awards for outstanding results in the 2014 public examinations.

The awards ceremony, which took place at the Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) Chancellor Hall, was co-organised by the Department of Schools and the Department of Examinations under the Ministry of Education (MoE).

Among the award recipients were 347 primary school students who had received five A grades in the 2014 Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (PSR) examinations and 72 secondary school students who got at least eight O’s (two out of which were A* grades) in last year’s GCE O-level examinations.

Twenty-seven of the secondary students were recognised as “Cambridge Outstanding Achievers”, as each had received at least one “Top in the World”, “Top Ten in the World” or “Top in Brunei Darussalam” title for excelling in a specific school subject.

Meanwhile five other students were feted for achieving outstanding results in the International Baccalaureate level.

Present to hand out awards to all the high-achieving students was Deputy Minister of Education Dato Seri Setia Hj Yusoff Hj Ismail.

The Deputy Minister used the opportunity to encourage non-Muslim students to take up Islamic Religious Knowledge (IRK) at school.

He noted that one Chinese student from Paduka Seri Begawan Sultan Science College (Maktab Sains) recently received an award for achieving outstanding results in Islamic studies.

“This indicates that non-Muslim students can learn about Islam and gain more knowledge on an academic level. With this knowledge, we can get an in depth (understanding) on what Islam is truly about so its learners can understand how Muslims live their lives,” he explained.

Dato Seri Setia Hj Yusoff went on to say that it is not easy to achieve success and excellence, but that it can be done with consistence, hard work and the support and encouragement of the student’s parents.

The awards were intended to recognise and reward students who had achieved excellence in their education, and also to encourage “healthy competition” among students to constantly improve their academic performance.

“Such improved performance is due in part to all the concerted efforts of education ministry authorities in improving the quality of learning and teaching, as well as the various initiatives that have been undertaken (by the ministry) at different levels,” he said.

Among those present yesterday were Acting Senior Special Duties Officer Head of Private Education from the MoE, Pg Ayup Pg Hj Othman, MoE Deputy Permanent Secretary Dr Hjh Anita Binurul Zahrina Pehin Orang Kaya Laila Wijaya Dato Seri Setia Hj Awg Abdul Aziz and Acting Director-General of Education Hj Abd Rahim Derus.

A tausyeh performance by students from Chung Hwa Middle School (CHMS) concluded the event.

The Brunei Times