BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN- Local training organisation Pakar Tenaga Bersatu (PTB) inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Wednesday with UK’s Nisai Group Ltd to establish a NISAI-National Open-College Network-PTB (NISAI-NOCN-PTB) centre in the sultanate.
Once ioperational, the centre is expected to cater to clients across the Asian region including China and Japan as well as several countries in the Middle East. It will alsooffer an alternative approach to learning through a virtual platform for academic Cambridge International IGCSEs and ‘A’ level subjects.
The Brunei regional centre will also be working with the National Open-College Network (NOCN), which is a market leading international Awarding Organisation (AO) recognised by the United Kingdom that gives accreditation for technical-vocational courses such as tourism and construction.
Through the strategic partnership with the National Open-College Network (NOCN) of the United Kingdom, vocational and work-based programmes could also be delivered on-line.
Signing on behalf of Nisai was its CEO, Dr Dhruv Patel while PTB’s managing director, Pg Hishamuddin Alli Pg Jaya Indera Pg Haji Mokhtar Puteh signed on behalf of PTB. The signing took place at the final day of the 14th Global Congress & Conferment ceremony held at the Empire Hotel & Country Club.
In an interview with The Scoop, Pg Hishamuddin Alli said that they are pushing to launch in September this year.
“We are in discussion with Darussalam Enterprise (DARe) and looking at locations [for the centre] which they have available at the moment. Some of the things that we really require is very fast, stable internet connection because it is an online platform,” he said.
“We have blended learning, a mixture of online and practical [learning]. The practical work will be handle by PTB, and the online courses are done by NOCN,… [it] would be done through virtual system,” he added.
More information on enrollment process and fees will be available once the website is live.
The proposed Brunei regional centre is expected to recruit and employ at least 15 Bruneians, in its preliminary stage, who will be trained in order to serve and address learning requirements of Nisai’s clients. Local technical and vocational trainers too will be selected to become trainers and assessors for the technical and blended learning courses.
“What first attracted me the most to establish the regional centre in Brunei was the high standard of proficiency of Bruneians understanding and conversing in the English language as well as its education system [which] is based on the UK educational system. Of course, the internet connectivity is the prime consideration in terms of deliverance of services. The political stability, its central location amidst the ASEAN countries and being business friendly enticed me further to invest and set up the branch in Brunei,” said Dr Dhruv.
PTB is a registered training institution championing technical and vocational training and education for local trainees since 2015 and have established networks and affiliations with other institutions and corporate bodies.
“PTB is committed into providing means for career development and progression for its trainees and not just skills to get a job. We look into providing career development as part of life-long learning and increasing productivity through various programmes for companies as well as for the workforce in Brunei,” said Pg Hishamuddin Alli.