by Hana RoslanBrunei's voctech education council visits IGS College
MEMBERS of the Brunei Darussalam Technical and Vocational Education Council (BDTVEC) made their way to International Graduate Studies College (IGS College) in Kiulap yesterday morning to keep abreast on latest developments in the technical and vocational sector.
The council's chairman, Deputy Minister of Education Dato Seri Setia Hj Yusoff Hj Ismail, led the group who were welcomed by Chairman of IGS College Pg Hjh Fatimah PSJ Pg Hj Abdul Momin.
This would be the third visit made by the council this year. Also part of the delegation was Deputy Permanent Secretary (Higher Education) Dr Hj Junaidi Hj Abd Rahman.
In the deputy minister's speech, he said he hopes that the college would diversify the courses or programmes offered so that it would be more innovative and competitive and address the human resource needs in the country.
"In this regard, the need to prepare an infrastructure that is conducive and having a teaching force that is adequate and skilled is much needed to guarantee the effectiveness of learning and teaching of the students," he said.
Dato Hj Yusoff also said that the visit was an opportunity for the council members to closely observe the vocational and technical courses offered at the college.
The visit also provided a platform for a two-way discussion between council members and college faculty and staff, especially on the importance of the relationship between private sector and accredited institutions that offer vocational and technical courses to fulfil private sector needs.
Prior to the deputy minister's speech, Pg Hjh Fatimah also gave the members a briefing on the college's achievements and future plans.
As part of Vision 2035 and the introduction of the New National Education System of the 21st Century (SPN21), she said that they were planning on strengthening their immediate expertise in Information Technology (IT) and Business.
The college will also be diversifying by offering new courses in Multimedia Creativity, Communication and Design Innovative and also working on developing their own courses.
The college is affiliated with Lim Kok Wing University in Malaysia and Pg Hjh Fatimah said that they are looking into more collaboration with local and foreign academic institutions.
An expansion plan is also in the pipeline, she said, where a new administration office will be built around the campus. This plan also includes the construction of a new lobby area, additional 13 classrooms and the procurement of new equipment.
They have also introduced degree courses this year namely Bachelor's in Business Administration, Bachelor of Business in Accounting, Bachelor of Science in Information Technology and Bachelor of Science in Software Engineering with Multimedia.
In terms of passing rates, she said that majority was 95 per cent and sometimes they even reached 100 per cent.
She added that the only reason why it didn't reach 100 per cent was because of students' attendance.
At present, there are a total of 700 students and 40 full-time staff at the college.
Following the briefing, the deputy minister toured the facilities of the college which include the administrative offices, tutorial room, library and computer hardware and maintenance rooms.
The Brunei Times
