| Fizah HAB |
THE Brunei English Language Teachers’ Association (BELTA) International Conference 2018 was officially opened yesterday at the Badi’ah Hotel’s Bahtera Hall, titled ‘Blooming HOTS: Developing the Thinking Classroom’.
The guest of honour was Acting Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Education Dr Haji Azman bin Haji Ahmad.
The ceremony began with the recitation of Surah Al-Fatihah, followed by welcoming remarks from President of BELTA Mohd Wafi Sia bin Abdullah and a speech by the guest of honour, who highlighted the importance of literacy.
“We see the need to raise the rate of literacy among the students. The access to the thinking classroom and literacy are fundamental keys that open the many doors of maturity, successful learning which are not exclusive to just in classrooms.
“These help to develop high-literate citizens who can use and apply these skills,” he said in his speech.
The conference, participated by some 130 teachers and invited guests, continued with a keynote speech by guest speaker David Didau titled ‘Getting more of what we want: What research tells us about developing ‘21st Century skills?’.
He shared about students developing creativity, critical thinking, problem solving and collaboration and aligning the concept of the thinking classroom to knowledge learning.
The three-day conference will host activities such as the BELTA oratory competition, school visits for foreign participants and parallel sessions held today and tomorrow.