| Azaraimy HH |
MICRONET International College hosted a graduation ceremony at the Empire Hotel & Country Club yesterday for 616 students who completed their studies in various courses.
Present as guest of honour at the ceremony was Pehin Orang Kaya Indera Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Suyoi bin Haji Osman, the Minister of Education.
Also present were other top education officials, including vice-chancellors of state-run universities in the country.
In his speech, the minister congratulated the new graduates, urging them to come up with new innovations and stay abreast with constant developments in the info-communications industry.
At the same time, he also warned the graduates to be more vigilant of negative influences from increasing advances in technology.
The minister reiterated the titah of 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 gathering with citizens and permanent residents of Brunei Darussalam in the United Kingdom last December, calling on them to preserve their unique identity as Bruneians.
In the titah, His Majesty also emphasised that students are a national asset, whose value should not be diminished through susceptibility to foreign cultural and ideological influences that can easily be accessed through social media and other technological platforms.
The Minister of Education, Pehin Orang Kaya Indera Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Suyoi bin Haji Osman handing over graduation certificate to one of the graduates. – PHOTOS: AZRAIMY HH
Mohammad Amin Khalili bin Aziz (2nd left) during the graduation ceremony with his peers
In view of this, the minister called on private higher learning institutions to be on the alert for negative influences, and to uphold with the country’s value system based around the concept of Malay Islamic Monarchy (MIB).
The minister also touched on the issue of employment, describing the country’s unemployment rate as high among Asean member countries, despite statistics taken from the Department of Economic Planning and Development (JPKE), showing a drop in unemployment figures from 6.9 per cent in 2014, to 6.4 per cent in April 2015.
With that in mind, the minister urged all graduates to be prepared to work in the private sector, or involved in entrepreneurship to support the country’s economy, instead of relying solely on the government sector jobs.
The minister also called for private higher learning institutions to introduce programmes catered to meet current industry needs by producing marketable graduates, in addition to reducing the unemployment rate.
Yesterday’s graduation ceremony saw 43 students graduating with a BDTVEC Higher National Diploma in Computing, 101 with a BDTVEC Diploma in Information Technology, 134 with a BDTVEC Skill Certificate 3 in Information Technology, 79 with a BDTVEC Skill Certificate 2 in Information Technology, 20 with a NCC Education Level 5 Diploma in Computing and 159 with a NCC Education Level 4 Diploma in Computing.
In an interview with the Bulletin, Mohammad Amin Khalili bin Aziz, 19, expressed his relief at graduating with a BDTVEC Diploma, after two years of studying at Micronet.
He said that he plans to continue his IT studies to a higher level, but hopes to find a job while waiting for the opportunity.
Meanwhile, Micronet Special Merit Awards in Information Technology were awarded to four students: Nurul Ainaa @ Rasyiwah binti Johan, Muhamad Syahmil Izwan bin Haji Julani and Mohamad Nyr Ikhwan bin Abu Bakar in Computing, and Dayangku Nurul Sa’adah binti Pengiran Suhaili.
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