Overview of Education in Brunei Darussalam

The first school in Brunei Darussalam was established in 1914. Since then, access to education in this relatively small nation, situated in the northwest of Borneo, has expanded significantly. The national education system has also become more complex. Independence from Great Britain in 1984 prompted many new initiatives to strengthen national identity and develop the nation’s human resources. However, it was not until the inauguration in 2007 of Wawasan 2035, a national vision for the country, and approval in the same year of Sistem Pendidikan Negara Abad ke-21—better known as SPN21, a vision for the national education system for the twenty-first century, that the system began to achieve its current curriculum coherence and organizational character. This chapter provides an overview of the national education system and its context in Brunei Darussalam. It records how the system has developed historically and introduces each of its sectors. The chapter concludes with an assessment of the challenges now facing the system.