BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

SOME 146 students from various schools in the sultanate yesterday received participation certificates at the Ministry of Education’s Main Conference Hall for volunteering as pre-school teacher’s assistants.

The six-month volunteer programme is an initiative of the Early Childhood Care and Education Unit of the Ministry of Education for form five and upper sixth students.In a speech, Department of Schools Senior Special Duties Officer Hj Azis Hj Nayan congratulated the volunteers for participating in and completing the programme.

He said more volunteers are needed, especially O and A-level school leavers, to join as pre-school teacher’s assistants.

“I urge students to remain active in volunteer work and be focused and thoughtful in delivering your service to the community,” he added.

In an interview with The Brunei Times, Awg Muhammad Wafiuddin Awg Ahmad, recipient of the Best Volunteer award, said it was his third time participating in the volunteer programme.

“I’ve always liked to teach pre-school kids and learn more on how to interact with them better. I created a short cartoon animation and showed it to the kids as a way of entertaining them,” said the Institut Teknologi Brunei (ITB) student who’s studying Creative Multimedia.

He added that he had been volunteering at Lambak Kanan Jalan 10 Primary School for three years.

“It’s a fun thing to do, and for this year, I’m extending my volunteering until November while the rest end theirs in June,” he said.

For her part, Nur Nasuha Abdullah Sani, a student from Meragang Sixth Form Centre (PTE Meragang), said she wanted to gain experience as a teacher’s assistant.

“Having personal experience in teaching my siblings (at home) gave me an advantage in teaching these pre-school kids. But of course, it’s different when in school, as they’re not my siblings,” said Nur Nasuha, who is the eldest of four children.

According to a press statement from the Early Childhood Care and Education Unit, the aim of the programme was to expose the youths to the culture and concept of volunteering through giving back to society, which is beneficial for their personal development.

The programme allows students to enhance their communication, teamwork and leadership skills and is a life-long learning experience for them.

It added that according to statistics from the department of schools, nearly 3,000 children enrolled in pre-schools this year while 118 government primary schools have pre-school classes.

The programme, introduced in 2013, attracted around 114 students, which rose to 162 students in 2014.

The Brunei Times.