| Lyna Mohamad |
PERMANENT Secretary (Higher Education) at the Ministry of Education Dr Haji Azman bin Ahmad urged higher education institutions in the country – including Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) – to rethink how they prepare their students for new careers being ushered in by next-generation technologies such as robotics, artificial intelligence, quantum computing and Internet of Things (IoT).
The permanent secretary, who was speaking at the launch of the UBD Career Fair 2018 yesterday which he officiated, added that, “The job sector will change as the world approaches the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR),” and “universities must change as well” to adapt to this new era, noting that this was highlighted recently in 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’s titah during UBD’s 30th Convocation ceremony.
He pointed out that Brunei has been named as the most improved economy in the world for the third year running, and that this is something positive reflecting the country’s flourishing economy and higher employment rates.
“This shows the serious commitment of His Majesty’s government towards creating a pro-business environment that enables further diversification of the country’s economy,” the permanent secretary said.
“As citizens of the country, we are grateful to the Government of His Majesty for the generous provision for education.”
The existing education system in place, he added, offers seamless pathways for students to pursue higher education, which can be seen from the development of public higher education institutions in the country, which each have their own niches.
“This is also apparent in the private higher education institutions, which offer various programmes and provide the public with greater opportunities to further their studies,” he said.
The good turnout of participating organisations comprising companies from the private and government sectors at the UBD Career Fair, the permanent secretary added, shows the strong support and commitment of stakeholders in the socio-economic development of Brunei Darussalam.
“The initiative taken by UBD to organise their fourth Career Fair will be beneficial for the students, alumni and public as a whole, as it provides an avenue for companies across industries to showcase job opportunities covering a wide range of skills and qualification levels to jobseekers,” he said.
The permanent secretary mentioned that it is important to have a system in place to measure the number of graduates that have secured jobs from the fair.
“It is important to know the number of jobs on offer at the fair and how many graduates who participated in the fair secured jobs. I’m confident that UBD has set this out as one of their success measures for organising the fair,” he said.
Dr Haji Azman also expressed his hope that public and private institutions, including UBD, will continue to collaborate with government agencies such as the Manpower Policy and Planning Unit and Job Centre Brunei to organise job fairs such as this, as well as outreach and other career programmes to help graduates in Brunei secure employment.
He highlighted that in the past two months, there has been an influx of graduates flooding the local labour market, noting that by year’s end, there will be approximately 5,513 students graduating from local public and private technical and vocational institutions as well as colleges and universities, with a large number having plans to continue their studies.
After launching the fair, Dr Haji Azman proceeded to tour the exhibition booths and mingle with the participating exhibitors.