| Azlan Othman |
ARABIC education came under close scrutiny once again by 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, when the monarch made unscheduled visits yesterday to three Arabic schools in the Brunei-Muara District.
His Majesty first visited the Bandar Seri Begawan Arabic Preparatory School and the Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Damit Girls Arabic Religious Secondary School (SUAMPRIPAD), followed by a tour of the Hassanal Bolkiah Arabic Boys Secondary School (SMALHB).
Upon arrival at the Bandar Seri Begawan Arabic Preparatory School, His Majesty was greeted by the Pehin Udana Khatib Dato Paduka Seri Setia Ustaz Haji Awang Badaruddin bin Pengarah Dato Paduka Haji Awang Othman, Minister of Religious Affairs, and Principal of the school, Ustazah Sarimah binti Haji Ahmad. The monarch took a closer look at the learning sessions for Years 5 and 6 and later visited the teachers’ room, medical unit, meeting hall and dining hall.
Established in 1984 for the early enrolment of female students, the preparatory school has 30 rooms including two ICT rooms, administration room, meeting room, security room and a canteen.
It offers core religious subjects like Al-Quran, Arabic language, At-Tarbiyyah Ad Diniyyah and general subjects like Malay, English, Mathematics, Science and Malay Islamic Monarchy (MIB). Compulsory subjects such as Social Studies, ICT, Practical Religious Subject and Physical Education are also offered.
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, during a surprise visit to one of the Arabic schools – INFOFOTO
ABOVE & BELOW: 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, during the visit to one of the Arabic schools. – PHOTOS: INFOFOTO
Currently, the school has a total of 851 students (476 in Year 5 and 375 in Year 6), 84 teachers and 24 staff members.
His Majesty then visited SUAMPRIPAD and was greeted by the Principal of the school, Ustazah Hajah Rusidah binti Haji Talip.
SUAMPRIPAD accommodates 1,197 students from Years 7 to 11 and offers them the opportunity to take Brunei Religious Education Certificate examination and GCE ‘O’ Level exam before completing their education at the school.
Came under scrutiny during the monarch’s visit was facilities like car parking space, dining hall, surau and teachers’ room. The ruler also visited several classes of Year 7 and witnessed students carrying out revision for their Brunei Religious Education Certificate and GCE ‘O’ level exams.
The monarch then toured the Hassanal Bolkiah Boys Arabic Secondary School and was welcomed on arrival by Dayang Hajah Norjainah binti Haji Buntar, principal of the School. His Majesty later toured a gallery that portrays the education achievements of the school in 50 years of its establishment.
The school has 491 students at the school of whom 312 are at pre-university 1 and 179 in pre-university 2 classes taking Usuluddin, Syariah and Arabic language. There are 91 officers and staff, out of whom 56 are locals.
Before concluding his visit, His Majesty joined the students in performing mid-day prayers at the school surau which was renovated recently at a cost of $217,321. It can accommodate 400 congregants.
Also in attendance werePehin Orang Kaya Laila Setia Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Abdul Rahman bin Haji Ibrahim, Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and the Minister of Finance II; Dato Paduka Awang Haji Abdul Mokti bin Haji Mohd Daud, Deputy Minister of Religious Affairs; Awang Yahya bin Haji Idris, Permanent Secretary at the Prime Minister’s Office; Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Abdul Aziz bin Orang Kaya Maharaja Lela Haji Mohd Yussof, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Religious Affairs; Deputy Permanent Secretaries and senior officers at the Ministry.
Delivering a titah during a meeting with the Brunei Islamic Religious Council (MUIB) at the Legislative Council (LegCo) building in late February this year, His Majesty had raised concerns on the direction and future of Arabic education in the country.
“This is a matter of much concern to me – the future direction of Arabic schools. Are their roles fading into irrelevancy or diverting towards another direction? This calls for a thorough reassessment to steer it back to the original course. Do not allow it to be diverted,” the monarch noted in the titah, adding that more students are inclined towards science-based subjects than Arabic.
In January this year, the Ministry of Religious Affairs said that the trend towards Arabic education in Brunei showed signs of increase, with 1,034 students (446 male and 588 female) registering for Year 5 education.
Out of the four districts, Brunei-Muara heads the list, with 790 students registered at the Sungai Akar Arabic School and the Bandar Seri Begawan Arabic Preparatory School. Currently, there are around 800 students studying in Years 5 and 6 at the Preparatory School, while the Hassanal Bolkiah Boys Arabic Secondary School has about 400 students.
Arabic school students have an advantage of receiving religious education together with the national curriculum.
If the students achieve outstanding exam results, they have a choice of taking degree courses or pursuing religious knowledge at higher institutions such as Universiti Islam Sultan Sharif Ali (UNISSA), Religious Teachers University College of Seri Begawan (KUPU SB), and Egypt’s Al-Azhar University, besides taking general subjects and exams to pursue tertiary education at both foreign and local institutions.
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