| Ministry of Education | |
|---|---|
| Minister of Education | Romaizah Mohd Salleh[1] |
| National education budget (2018) | |
| Budget |  B$696 million[2] |
| General details | |
| Primary languages | English, Malay |
| System type | National |
Education in Brunei is provided or regulated by the Government of Brunei through the Ministry of Education (Kementerian Pendidikan) and the Ministry of Religious Affairs (Kementerian Hal Ehwal Ugama).[3] The former manages most of the government and private schools in the country where as the latter specifically administers government schools which provide the ugama or Islamic religious education.[4]
Formal education comprises compulsory, post-secondary and higher education. Compulsory education may be of two types: general education which takes twelve years and consists of pre-school, primary and secondary;[4] and Islamic religious primary education which lasts seven years and is compulsory for Muslim pupils in Brunei. General education may be attained in government or private schools, where as religious education is attained in government religious schools.
Post-secondary education may consist of sixth form, which is an extension of secondary and allows direct entrance to higher education; and technical and vocational education which are provided in government institutions and private colleges.[3] Higher education from bachelor's degree is provided in four government universities. Schooling for compulsory education is fully subsidised by the government for the citizens of Brunei and it usually extends to post-secondary and university.[5][3][4]
Although Malay is the official language of Brunei, English is the main medium of instruction in most primary and secondary schools as well as colleges and universities. Nevertheless, Malay is the medium of instruction for Malay- and Brunei-related subjects, as well as in religious primary schools. The latter also adopts Jawi alphabet, a Perso-Arabic script, instead of Roman alphabet. Arabic is used in Arabic religious schools and Islamic universities. Chinese may be used as a medium of instruction or as a subject in Chinese private schools.
As of 2019,[6] the Ministry of Education administered or oversaw 232 schools in the preschool, primary and secondary levels, 12 technical and vocational institutions, and 7 universities and other tertiary-level institutions. They employed 10,942 teachers, out of which 72.9% were female. A total of 107,166 students were enrolled, whereby 49.9% were female. In the same year, the Ministry of Religious Affairs administered 158 Islamic religious schools, employing 2,205 teachers and enrolling 36,926 students.
- ^ "HM announces cabinet reshuffle| The Scoop". thescoop.co. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
- ^ "14th LegCo session ends with $5.3B budget passed – The Scoop". The Scoop. 21 March 2018. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
- ^ a b c "The Education System in Brunei Darussalam". Studycountry. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
- ^ a b c "Brunei". education.stateuniversity.com. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
- ^ "Brunei Education System". www.scholaro.com. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
- ^ BRUNEI DARUSSALAM STATISTICAL YEARBOOK 2019 (PDF). Department of Economic Planning and Statistics. 2020. ISBN 9789991772264. Retrieved 3 August 2021.