| Rokiah Mahmud |
A total of 100 volunteers comprising four former ‘A’ Level students and 96 ‘O’ Level students who completed their temporary work placement programme as Voluntary Preschool Assistant Teachers for 2018 received certificates yesterday.
The Early Childhood Education Care and Education (ECCE) Unit of the Ministry of Education held the certificate presentation ceremony.
The event was held at the Raja Isteri Girls High School (STPRI) in the capital.
Head of Private Education Section at the Ministry of Education Marina Chek binti Bujang, the guest of honour, presented the certificates.
The volunteers assisted the preschool teachers at government primary schools to handle the preschoolers care and learning.
This year, 3,306 preschoolers were registered at 117 government primary schools nationwide, according to statistics released by the Department of Schools.
Various initiatives have been implemented to enhance the vision of the Ministry of Education and to support the National Education System for the 21st Century (SPN21) and Brunei Vision 2035. The ECCE has also planned and is implementing several preparatory initiatives including the Temporary Work Placement programme for former ‘O’ and ‘A’ Level students as voluntary Preschool Assistant Teachers in government primary schools throughout the country.
The programme was first introduced in January 2013 for former ‘O’ and ‘A’ Level students awaiting results to work as volunteers.
The aim was to expose students to the culture of volunteering and contributing their service to the community, which is beneficial for the development of the personality and youth identity.
This programme also encourages students to do charity work and serve the community without asking for rewards.
This placement programme can also help develop students’ soft skills such as communication, teamwork and leadership. Desire and interest in getting involved in becoming an educator can also be nurtured as students have the opportunity to offer help and gain experience as a preschool teacher.
The Ministry of Education hopes that the Temporary Work Placement programme can help teachers and schools prepare for new preschoolers, especially in the early school season.
The management of such programmes is also expected to improve the quality of education in Brunei Darussalam by producing confident and self-reliant students to support the National Education through the aspiration of the SPN21.
The placement of these students is subject to residential address and school location to facilitate them to attend the volunteer programme.