MORE exchanges in education between South Korea and Brunei are in the
works, says the ambassador of South Korea to Brunei.
In an email interview with The
Brunei Times, His Excellency Choi Byung-Koo explained the importance of
education in playing a role in the "Korean economic miracle" and
noted its relevance to Brunei's efforts in diversification of its economy from
oil and gas.
Ambassador Choi Byung-Koo said
that he believes Brunei and Korea have many things to learn from each other.
"Korea is now at one of the highest levels in ICT, math, and various field
of science," he said, noting that their quality in those fields of
education had allowed them to be competitive in the world market.
The ambassador believes that
Bruneians can help in the Korean's desire to better themselves in the English
Language. "Competence in English language of Bruneian students is
excellent," noting he was surprised by the level of fluency of Bruneian
students speaking English. "I think that English level here and its education
system can be coveted through (out) Asia," he said. He noted that in
contrast, the average level of English ability among Korean students fall far
behind that of Bruneian students.
"Korean students spend a lot
of money for English, but the outcome so far is not satisfactory". He said
that against this backdrop, "My Embassy wants to bring more Korean
students and teachers to Brunei... in this regard, I believe that people of our
two countries can benefit with each other by exchanging teachers, students and
know-how of better education," he said.
The ambassador highlighted the
recent high level discussions between Yang Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Seri
Kerna Dato Seri Setia Dr Hj Abu Bakar Hj Apong, the Minister of Education and
the South Korean Minister of Education, Science and Technology Ju-Ho Lee in
Seoul in May this year.
He noted both ministers agreed to
cooperate more on improving the quality of education and exchanges of teachers,
students and programmes between Brunei and Korea.
His Excellency also noted the
importance of education "for a nation to build its future". He
highlighted Korea's experience, noting "education was one of the core
engines that drove Korea up to its current level of development," pointing
out that Korean parents willingly sacrificed themselves for the better
education of their offsprings even at the time of acute hunger during 1960s and
1970s. "The role of education seems to be the same here in Brunei. It is
for the future rather than for the present," he said.
"Presently, Brunei is one of
the richest countries in the world in terms of per capita income, benefitting
from enormous revenue from oil and gas," he said, noting however, that
fossil fuels are a limited resource and will eventually deplete.
"I think Bruneian people are
also keenly aware of this," he said. "That's why the importance of
education is also well understood here in Brunei"
He said he believes that economic
diversification is one of the most important agenda for Brunei.
"Then, what makes diversification
possible? Economic diversification cannot be achieved in a day. It needs huge
investment and systemic planning."
He stressed that "most of
all, it needs human resources who can lead all this, and this human capital are
gradually acquired by education over years."
The ambassador added that in his
personal view, even though Bruneians are currently enjoying good quality of
life, "now it's time for you to invest much more for future and education
as Koreans did and still do, giving the education top priority".
KOO JIN SHEN
The Brunei Times
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