Private sector has a big role to play in education
By Yusrin Junaidi of Borneo Bulletin


Fifty-five IGS College students received their certificates after successfully completing their Computer Studies as well as Business and Finance Studies at the Pre National Diploma and National Diploma during the 2nd convocation ceremony at the IGS College building in Kiulap yesterday evening.

The guest of honour who handed over the certificates was Dato Paduka Hj Hamdillah bin Hj Abd Wahab, Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources.

The ceremony commenced with the recital of the Holy Quran by Awang Hj Mohd Zulfadli Shahnoel bin Muhd Noeh, one of the HNDC 08/02 students of the college.

The CEO and Principal of IGS College, Pengiran Hjh Fatimah binti PSJ Abdul Momin, in a speech said that eight students have received National Diploma in Computer Studies, 14 students National Diploma in Business and Finance, 29 students Pre National Diploma in Computer Studies and four students Pre National Diploma in Business and Finance. Three students received Excellence Awards.

She said, in addition we have created the HELP programme, which stands for "Holistic Excellence Leadership Programme" that emphasises on attendance, self discipline, attire, leadership skills and also competitiveness amongst the different academic groups to vie for the best student and best group award every month.

Pg Hjh Fatimah added that in addition to the new workplace demands, the IGS College is also facing the challenge of information technology (IT) in almost every facet of the working environment.

The guest of honour in his speech said, "We are very proud that 55 students have successfully completed their studies in either Computer Studies or Business and Finance Studies at the Pre National Diploma and National Diploma levels.

"I am very pleased that this college is living up to the dreams of its founder and in facing up to the challenges to provide quality education in response to the policy direction of His Majesty's Government to grow the private sector as the country strives to diversify the economy.

"There is no doubt that growing our private sector will require well trained businessmen and women who embrace innovation and the concept of continuous life long learning. This concept is clearly articulated in the government's education policy objectives in SPN-21," said Dato Hj Hamdillah.

In the Brunei context, the government is heavily entrusted in providing education to the people of Brunei Darussalam almost 'single-handedly' especially in the tertiary level. While this is not a problem as long as the country's revenue continues to allow educational funding to be provided, there could be a time in the future when such provision is no longer sustainable.

The Deputy Minister said, "We have anticipated this possibility and started JIS but we need to broaden it by making a long term plan and developing the capacity of the private sector to deliver quality education.

"This will require support and positive policy environment to allow the private sector to grow and be able to 'take over' partly some of the educational costs through some form of public-private partnership arrangements," he added.

In conclusion, the deputy minister summarised his personal viewpoint on the need to promote private education providers. Private education clearly plays an important role at many levels, second, the expansion of private education can bring many benefits to the government including reducing the financial burden as it encourages more innovation and relevance and increased efficiency in delivery and finally, the overall objective of the government must be to create an enabling environment for the private sector growth.