Brunei Darussalam: Educational Policies in Six Decades

This book examines how the education policies that emerged in the Bruneian education system from 1954 to 2014 produced progress, tailored to current needs. These policies were faced with many challenges. Among the major challenges the education policies were often faced with during this period was to adopt Malay as the instructional medium in schools throughout the country. This issue could be seen in the Education Policies 1954, 1962 and 1972 which advocated for Malay to be the medium of instruction. However, there were challenges in its implementation. These challenges were not only due to internal, but also external factors. Therefore, schools in various language streams continued to exist in Brunei, as stated in Education Policy 1954. When the Bilingual Education Policy and SPN 21 were introduced, the challenge to adopt Malay as the instructional medium resurfaced. It was apparent that these two policies did not manage to make Malay as the medium of instruction because it was overshadowed by English. The same happened when the National Education System of the 21st Century was launched in 2008 to replace the previous education systems. The previous systems were said to be unable to provide the academic and skills programmes, which were relevant to high technology global needs. However, this policy created discontentment among the Muslims in the country. This was where Islamic Education and Malay Islamic Monarchy were no longer the core, but only elective subjects. Due to public pressure, as well as the Sultan's reprimand, thus, in late 2009 both were made core subjects.  

Authors: DR. HAJI AWG ASBOL BIN HAJI MAIL, AMPUAN DR. HAJI IBRAHIM BIN AMPUAN HAJI TENGAH, DR. ROZAIMAN BIN MAKMUN, DR. NANI SURYANTI BINTI HAJI ABU BAKAR, PG. DR. HAJAH SITI NORAINNA BINTI PG. HAJI BESAR, DR. HAJAH SURAYA BINTI HAJI TARASAT & DR. HAJI TASSIM BIN HAJI ABU BAKAR

Cover: Paperback | Language:  English | Publisher:  Brunei Historical Society/Persatuan Sejarah Brunei | Publication Year:  2020 | Pages:  120