| Lyna Mohamad |
THE 29th Convocation Ceremony of Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) saw 1,308 students from the fifth batch of its distinctive GenNext programme celebrating their graduation at UBD’s Chancellor Hall yesteday.
Gracing the event was His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, in his capacity as the Chancellor of UBD.
Accompanying His Majesty was His Royal Highness Prince (Dr) Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah, the Crown Prince and Senior Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and Pro-Chancellor of UBD.
Upon arrival, His Majesty was greeted by Pehin Orang Kaya Indera Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Suyoi bin Haji Osman, Minister of Education and Datin Dr Hajah Anita Binurul Zahrina binti Pehin Orang Kaya Laila Wijaya Dato Seri Setia Haji Awang Abdul Aziz, Vice-Chancellor of UBD.
Yesterday’s convocation was initiated with the recitation of verses from Al-Quran, followed by the welcoming address by the vice-chancellor who noted that since the past convocation, UBD has collaborated with several relevant stakeholders and introduced several new programmes, answering the call made by His Majesty to upgrade graduates’ marketability.
“UBD started a bachelor’s programme in dentistry last August following collaboration with the Ministry of Health and aside from that, specialty training programmes for doctors in seven medical fields have also been introduced.
“The Centre for Lifelong Learning, or C3L, has also introduced a new programme, Bachelor of Science in Digital Economy, earlier this year. The flexible programme has seen 128 people registering, of which two-thirds are working people,” the vice-chancellor said. This is a good sign as it shows the tendency to self-upgrade, despite already having a career, she added.
“C3L has also introduced another bachelor’s programme called Master of Government, a programme that allows learning to be pursued in specific courses and will be counted towards qualifying for bachelor’s programmes such as the Executive Development Programme and the Brunei Top 100 Leaders (B100) Programme conducted by the Prime Minister’s Office for government officers,” she noted.
To expand and progress in education at international level, particularly in the region, the vice-chancellor said UBD has collaborated with FPT University in Vietnam to establish an English language course, and the campus started functioning from last month.
The owner of the FPT University, FPT Corporation, the biggest IT company in Vietnam, has been conducting IT-related programmes such as data analytics, Internet of Things, cloud computing and cyber security applications, in collaboration with UBD, she added.
She pointed out that the convocation also witnessed the first awarding of a dual degree in the field of research, in collaboration with Korean University, one of the world’s top universities.
The 1,308 individuals who graduated yesterday comprised 36 PhD students (surpassing last year’s record of 28), 346 Master’s degree holders, 827 Bachelor’s degree graduates, 98 Diploma recipients as well as an Advanced Diploma graduate.
The ceremony also saw the graduation of 66 international students of UBD.
The morning session of the event saw PhD and Bachelor’s degree holders receiving their certificates while Master’s degree, Postgraduate Diploma and Advanced Diploma holders received their graduation certificates in the afternoon section.
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