| Azaraimy HH |
MORE students are enrolling in agriculture-related studies in the country including in higher learning or tertiary education institutions.
Minister of Education YB Dato Paduka Awang Haji Hamzah bin Haji Sulaiman, in his reply to members during the LegCo session on Wednesday regarding the ministry’s efforts in supporting the development of the agriculture industry in the country, said that to support agricultural studies, students at secondary schools from Year 9 are given opportunities.
The minister shared that this year alone 369 students – from Years 9-11 – have taken agriculture subjects.
At the technical education level, the Ministry of Education (MoE) through the School of Agro-Technology and Applied Sciences of the Institute of Brunei Technical Education (IBTE) Agro-Technology Campus has run several programmes in agricultural fields at its Agro-Technology Campus since it was established in 2005.
This includes programmes such as the Skill Certificate 2 and Skill Certificate 3 in Crop Production.
Ever since government initiatives to revamp technical education in the country, the school has offered new programmes such as National Technical Education Certificate (NTec) in Crop and Livestock Production, as well as Higher National Technical Certificate (HNTec) in Agro-Technology.
The minister added that in 2017, 175 students were enrolled in related programmes at the School of Agro-Technology and Applied Sciences.
At the tertiary education level, Universiti Teknologi Brunei (UTB) offers the Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Food Sciences and Technology graduate programme which prepares graduates by equipping them with science and technology skills that they can apply for leading and managing food product development projects from the idea generation stage to product launch.
YB Dato Paduka Awang Haji Hamzah said that the programme has seen an increased number of student enrolment since it was first introduced last year.
“Higher learning institutions in the country have also been actively conducting research in agriculture.
“To support the agricultural industry, 11 research grants and 61 agriculture-related research projects have been implemented by academicians at Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) since 2011,” the minister added.
“Furthermore, there are nine students studying overseas in agriculture-related fields under the Government Scholarship Programme of the Ministry of Education, from Master’s degree to PhD programmes.”