BRUNEI and the United States are currently recruiting qualified English
language teachers, from the respective countries, to teach at higher learning
institutions in ASEAN under a US$25 million joint project funded by the Brunei
government, the US State Department said yesterday.
"Planning is also underway
for a regional forum on English education for ASEAN integration and an online
community resource for English language educators and experts," the State
Department said in statement on its website dated July 11, 2012.
Both countries were also slated
to host three-month English courses in September this year for government
officials and teacher trainers from the ASEAN member states, to "enhance
professional communication skills, explore current issues impacting the region,
and learn the latest in information technology".
The State Department said that US
will be hosting the workshops in Hawaii, while equivalent workshops will also
be held in Brunei during that month.
Announced in November last year,
Brunei-US English Language Enrichment Project for ASEAN is an ambitious
five-year initiative funded by the Brunei government and reflects a commitment
to help unify the diverse members of ASEAN, improve English language capacity,
and advance educational and teaching opportunities in the region".
"People-to-people exchanges
under this programme will empower participants with better English language,
diplomatic, and teaching skills," the statement said.
The "implementing
partners" of the project from the two governments, Universiti Brunei
Darussalam (UBD) and the East-West Center (EWC) in Hawaii signed a Memorandum
of Understanding last month.
It was previously reported then
that the two institutions aimed to improve the level of English in ASEAN
through the building and strengthening of English teaching capacity, assisting
ASEAN participants in developing new skill-sets such as ICT literacy and
increasing the ASEAN participants' people-to-people linkages through
interaction in the programmes.
During the signing ceremony held
at UBD on June 11, Brunei-US Project Executive Dr Salbrina Sharbawi, the
Director of the university's Continuing Education Centre said the five-year
project would be carried out in phases. In the initial phases, representatives
from UBD and EWC travelled to Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam to assess the
needs in English language development in those ASEAN nations.
"The goals of the needs
assessment activities are to identify and engage key institutions to foster
participation and assess the areas of need for current or planned efforts to
build English capacity as well as to gather data and materials for the second
phase of the project, the Curriculum Development," Dr Salbrina said then.
The third or "Implementation
Phase" comprised an 11-week English programme, which will see the
participation of some 70 teacher-trainers as well as officers and diplomats
from the 10 ASEAN countries, she added.
"Some countries have quite
solid English language skills...but there are other countries like Cambodia,
Laos, which experienced French colonialism, and don't have nearly as much
English language facility," EWC President Dr Charles Morrison told the
press here in January this year.
"So for those countries to
be fully involved in ASEAN cooperation and integration process, they need to have
more skills," he had added.
"English language capability
is directly tied to economic prosperity as it facilitates international
commerce, clear diplomatic communication, scientific exchange and education
linkages. This programme demonstrates a clear commitment on the part of the
United States and Brunei to advance opportunities in the ASEAN region,"
the State Department said in yesterday's statement.
UBAIDILLAH MASLI
The Brunei Times
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