The ‘Meninggi Tahap’ Workshop was successfully organised on 11th February, 2018 in Brunei Hall, London. Brunei students from all over the UK attended the workshop, which aims to disseminate information on “Meninggi Tahap” process, to encourage students to go for further studies (i.e. Meninggi Tahap), and to give exposure on the process of applying for The Chancellor’s Scholar, Sultan’s Scholar and other scholarship opportunities.
The event started with a presentation on the ‘Meninggi Tahap’ process by YM Cikgu Siti Hairaney @ Irene Haji Shahri, Academic Coordinator Officer from Brunei Students’ Unit, United Kingdom. The session was followed by discussions on scholarship application process and its top tips from Dayang Hajah Hanisah binti Haji Awang Sharif, recipient of The Chancellor’s Scholar and Awang Muhammad Ayyub bin Haji Kamaludin, recipient of Yayasan Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah (Sultan’s Scholar scheme).
During the presentation done by Cikgu Siti Hairaney, she mentioned the importance in picking a course that is currently in-demand with the needs for the development of Brunei based from the scholarship list. The list of courses that are offered by the Ministry of Education (MoE) changes on a yearly basis and she advised that the research proposal must be in-line with the Wawasan 2035. Proposal has to be relevant and useful to the future of Brunei’s development in order to have support from the scholarship unit. In addition to that, students must ensure that the courses are not directly available in Brunei.
Dayang Hajah Hanisah binti Haji Awang Sharif shared her experience in applying for The Chancellor’s Scholarship. She advised students to have a project that they want to do in their minds, followed by surveying the universities, and then finding the perfect supervisor for the project they’re looking into. Once both parties are happy with the PhD proposal, follow this up by immediate application. She personally thinks that if you have the passion and confidence to contribute as an academic, students should try and apply for the scholarship.
Awang Muhammad Ayyub bin Haji Kamaludin highlighted that the majority of the students would think of Wawasan 2035 as the three main goals: the accomplishments of its educated and skilled people, high quality of life and having a dynamic and sustainable economy. However, the eight strategies involved to achieve this is equally important and students should reflect on them while deciding on the courses that would benefit the country in the future. For example, in terms of social security, to be able to ensure that the nation prospers, and all the citizens are properly cared for, there has been an increasing awareness towards the need of educators for children with special needs.
At the end of the workshop, attendees were content with the amount of information that was shared with them. Most of them shared their desire to embark for further studies, while the minority was interested in opportunities to explore in the future, such as work placement before thinking of pursuing for their postgraduate studies.
