MFA Press Statement: Visit of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to Negara Brunei Darussalam, 29 to 31 October 2012

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is on the second day of his three-day visit to Brunei.  The day began with a morning walk and breakfast with His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, at Tasek Lama Park in Bandar Seri Begawan.

PM Lee then received a briefing on Brunei’s energy sector from Minister of Energy in the Prime Minister’s Office Pehin Yasmin Umar.  Pehin Yasmin outlined Brunei’s vision for developing its oil and gas industry.

This was followed by a lunch for PM and Mrs Lee hosted by the Crown Prince of Brunei Darussalam His Royal Highness Prince Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah and Her Royal Highness Paduka Seri Pengiran Anak Isteri Pengiran Anak Sarah Salleh. During lunch, PM Lee reaffirmed the strong historical bonds between Brunei and Singapore, and discussed with His Royal Highness how to strengthen bilateral cooperation.

Later, PM Lee met with Speaker of the Legislative Council Pehin Isa Ibrahim.  The discussion centred on the state of bilateral relations.  Both PM Lee and Pehin Isa agreed that we should continue to maintain close ties at all levels, including between Singapore’s Parliament and Brunei’s Legislative Council.  

PM Lee visited Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) this afternoon, where he was hosted by Minister of Education Pehin Abu Bakar Apong and UBD Vice-Chancellor Dato Zulkarnain Hanafi.  PM Lee was briefed and given a tour of the UBD campus.  PM Lee reaffirmed the importance of education as a cornerstone of the bilateral relationship.  PM Lee noted that there were strong ties between schools on both sides and many Singaporean students visited Brunei during the school holidays for joint activities with their Bruneian counterparts.  PM Lee highlighted that Singapore and Brunei would be stepping up our interactions under the 2006 Education Memorandum of Understanding through three enhanced initiatives, namely expanded cooperation in the special education sector, a scaled-up school twinning programme, and a new Malay Language immersion programme for Singapore educators (details at Annex).

This evening, PM Lee will be hosted to dinner by Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade His Royal Highness Prince Mohamed Bolkiah and Her Royal Highness Princess Hajah Zariah.

PM Lee returns to Singapore tomorrow.

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

SINGAPORE

30 OCTOBER 2012

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Annex – New Education Initiatives with Brunei

New Special Education Teacher Work Attachment Programme for Brunei’s Educators

1.                  The Brunei and Singapore Ministries of Education have engaged in information exchange and sharing of best practices on a range of different topics in education over the years, including Special Education (SPED).

2.                  With effect from 2013, collaborations in SPED will be expanded.  Plans are underway for Singapore to host a two-week SPED Teacher Work Attachment Programme for Brunei’s SPED educators in Singapore from January to February 2013. 

The New Work Attachment Programme for Special Education Teachers

3.                  The proposed programme will kick-off with a briefing, which outlines the evolution of Singapore’s SPED system over the years; the key features of the current SPED landscape and system; and the future directions for our SPED sector.  In turn, Brunei’s educators will be sharing developments on Brunei’s SPED system.

4.                  Thereafter, the Brunei educators will be attached to three SPED schools – Delta Senior School[1], Metta School[2] and Grace Orchard School[3], over a period of two to three days each that will allow the Brunei educators to experience how different SPED schools are run in Singapore.  These schools cater to students with mild intellectual disabilities and seek to equip them with vocational skills that they can use to gain employment and live independent lives. 

5.                  The Brunei educators will also visit one of the MINDS Employment Development Centres[4], which provide training in vocational and social skills, shelter and employment for people with intellectual disability, aged 18 years and above, to prepare them for open employment and integration into society.

6.                  There will also be a visit to Northlight School for Brunei educators to learn more about the school’s applied programmes for secondary school students who are more hands-on and inclined towards vocational studies.

7.                  The attachment programme will conclude with a debrief involving both the Brunei educators and the SPED officers from the Singapore Ministry of Education.

8.                  We envisage that the SPED Teacher Work Attachment Programme will lead to a cross-fertilisation of pedagogical ideas and practices, and bring about continuous improvements to the SPED sectors of both countries.  We look forward to welcoming our friends from Brunei for this programme.

Expansion of the Brunei-Singapore School Twinning Programme

Background

1.            The Brunei-Singapore School Twinning Programme is one of the many collaborations that arose from the Education Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the two countries that was signed in February 2006.

2.            The School Twinning Programme started with seven pairs of schools in 2007, which later increased to 10 pairs in 2009.  The partner schools have engaged in collaborative activities such as two-way cultural immersion programmes and student and teacher exchanges in areas such as ICT, performing arts, sports and outdoor adventure. 

Up-scaling of the School Twinning Programme

3.            With effect from January 2013, the School Twinning Programme will be extended to five more schools on both sides, making a total 15 pairs of partner schools as given below:-

[Note: The five new pairs of schools are listed at nos. 11 – 15.  We have taken the opportunity to also refresh the selection of existing partner schools from Brunei (indicated in blue) to reach out to a greater variety of school types and students.]

4.            An expansion of the School Twinning Programme means that more schools get to reap the benefits of school-to-school collaborations, and there are more opportunities for the youth of both sides to learn about each other’s cultures and forge friendships through collaborative activities.

New Malay Language Immersion Programme for Singapore’s Malay Language Educators

Background

1.            The Brunei Ministry of Education will be formalising an annual Malay Language Immersion Programme, comprising a short-term teacher work attachment and a study visit, for Singapore’s Malay Language (ML) educators to commence in 2013.  This programme will help Singapore ML teachers develop and hone their ML pedagogical skills.

The Malay Language Immersion Programme

2.            In Singapore’s programme proposal, a team of about 15 ML teachers, accompanied by two delegation leaders, will visit Brunei in June/July 2013.  Over 10 days in Brunei, the ML teachers will visit the Ministry of Education for briefings on the Brunei education system and ML curriculum, teaching and assessment.

3.            We are also proposing for the teachers to attend a series of lectures on Malay language, literature and culture at the Malay Language and Literature Department of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Brunei Darussalam before being attached to selected Brunei schools for a week to apply their learning.  The programme will conclude with a wrap-up session for the teachers to consolidate their learning experience with officials from the Brunei Ministry of Education.

4.            We see the Malay Language Immersion Programme in Brunei as a useful training opportunity for our ML teachers to develop professionally. 

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