| Danial Norjidi |
A SIGING of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the Second Chapter of the Brunei Entrepreneurship Education Scheme (BEES) programme and the BEES Convention 2.0 took place yesterday at The Empire Hotel & Country Club, between representatives of the Ministry of Education (MoE), Brunei Shell Petroleum Company Sdn Bhd (BSP) and Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD).
On hand to witness the signing was Pehin Orang Kaya Indera Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Suyoi bin Haji Osman, the Minister of Education, who was also the guest of honour at the event.
A speech was delivered by Haji Abdul Rahman bin Haji Nawi, the Director of the Curriculum Development Department under the Ministry of Education, in which he gave a brief outline of the BEES programme which was first introduced in 2011, where a MoU was also signed between the MoE, BSP and UBD.
The programme was established to help students understand ways of doing business through practical activities and mentoring, as well as creating more awareness on the availability of modes on learning to be more independent and resourceful.
Haji Abdul Rahman also said that BEES has already produced skilled students who are now doing well in further studies, both locally and abroad.
“BEES Version 2.0 is an upgraded programme that is designed to instil, develop and stimulate enterprising attitudes and skills among students in secondary schools through a systematic approach by focusing on three key elements of entrepreneurial success: an entrepreneurial mindset, pragmatic knowledge with application and creating entrepreneurial students that are resourceful and sustainable,” he explained.
The BEES 2.0 programme has already started, with 10 schools participating in this year’s edition, comprising six government and four private schools.
Pehin Orang Kaya Indera Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Suyoi bin Haji Osman, the Minister of Education, witnessing the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the Second Chapter of the Brunei Entrepreneurship Education Scheme (BEES) programme and the BEES Convention 2.0. – PHOTOS: BAHYIAH BAKIR
Adna Shatriremie bin Haji Abdul Rahman (above), the Project Executive Director of the National Entrepreneurship Agenda at Universiti Brunei Darussalam; and Haji Kamaludin bin Haji Bungsu (below), the Deputy Managing Director of Brunei Shell Petroleum Co Sdn Bhd; speaking to the media.
“To ensure the BEES 2.0 programme will be able to achieve its objectives in producing a generation of youths that are resourceful and self-sustainable, a series of workshops were conducted with relevant stakeholders,” said the Director of Curriculum Development.
Participation in the BEES 2.0 programme is open to students from various fields besides those in the accounting and business modules, to inculcate interdisciplinary knowledge leading to more innovative products and services.
To ensure these newly acquired goals are sustainable, BEES 2.0 focuses on nurturing a entrepreneurial mindset by forming a three-year strategic-based thematic programme, namely ‘Entrepreneurial Mindset on Pitching’ for 2016, ‘Entrepreneurial Mindset on Innovation’ for 2017 and ‘Entrepreneurial Mindset on Sustainability’ for 2018.
Haji Abdul Rahman also extended his appreciation to LiveWIRE, “whose guidance and support in the first chapter has been one of the key factors of BEES’ successful first launch.”
LiveWIRE Brunei is BSP’s social investment flagship, which aims to mentor current and future entrepreneurs. It is one of BSP’s commitments towards nurturing and developing local business competencies, capabilities and competitiveness for the long-term sustainability of Brunei Darussalam’s private sector economy.
Speaking to the Bulletin yesterday, Adna Shatriremie bin Haji Abdul Rahman, the Project Executive Director of the National Entrepreneurship Agenda at UBD, said that “UBD’s role is first in advisory. Number two is in terms of providing training and support.
“Brunei Shell Petroleum has been amazing in financing this for the first and second chapters of BEES, so UBD through the Entrepreneurship Village and UBD School of Business and Economics has been very focused in terms of providing training to the students and in terms of expanding their entrepreneurial mindset.”
Haji Kamaludin bin Haji Bungsu, the Deputy Managing Director of BSP told the Bulletin, “This particular programme is part and parcel of our strategic investment in the country, and education is part of our core activity in terms of strategic investment.
“The idea is to be part of nation development, and an entrepreneurship mindset is something that the BSP feels will actually nurture individuals in the country to be more commercially acute, commercially-oriented, and be able to actually identify opportunities in their future endeavours.
“I’m impressed by the way students have responded to this challenge. They are bringing out-of-the-box thinking skills, they are actually developing engagement skills and trying to actually market their products in the open,” he added. “So this in itself – a change in behaviour and mindset in being more innovative and creative, while trying to convince people that their product is something that everybody should own – to me it is already a winning start.
“In the three-year programme that we are going to be part of, the first year will focus on pitching, the second on innovation and the third on sustainability. So we see this as a staircase towards sustaining this programme for the future.”
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