MINISTER of Education Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Hamzah bin Haji Sulaiman represented Brunei Darussalam during the 2019 Education World Forum in the United Kingdom (UK) from January 20-23, which featured 1,263 delegates in the world’s largest gathering of education and skills ministers.
Among those accompanying the minister to the forum, themed ‘What should we do with what we know: Developing education policy for implementation, impact and exponential success’, was Permanent Secretary (Core Education) at the Ministry of Education Dr Shamsiah Zuraini Kanchanawati binti Haji Tajuddin.
The UK Secretary of State for Education Damian Hinds, opened the forum with a three-day plenary session which the Brunei delegation attended with other delegates from 95 countries, including Malaysia, Vietnam, Myanmar and Pakistan, to debate future education policies.
Three days of insight and inspiration from pioneers, policy-makers and experts, including sessions led by the education ministers themselves as part of an honest assessment of education’s common issues and challenges, ensured a productive and invigorating experience.
Among the speakers were Director of Education and Skills at the OECD Andreas Schleicher, Senior Economist in the Education Global Practice at the World Bank Samer Al-Samarrai, and the Assistant Director-General for Education at UNESCO Stefania Giannini.
Ministerial dialogues and working sessions were also part of the programme of this year’s forum, which is supported by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Department for Education, the Department for International Trade, the Department for International Development, the British Council and several industry partners.
Following this forum, the Brunei delegation will continue with working visits to several educational institutions and schools in the UK.
