Education opportunities in Brunei
Published 27 October 2014
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1. Market potential
The Bruneian education and training market is a priority market for UKTI Education owing to:
- Significant potential for future business
- Potential opportunities that may exist across a number of sub-sectors – including oil & gas education and training, vocational education and training and English language training (ELT)
- The high value placed on UK education and training expertise in Brunei across a range of industry verticals
2. Potential contract opportunities
Potential opportunities in Brunei may include:
- Supporting the oil and gas and construction sectors to fulfill a range of education and training requirements set out in the Brunei government’s Energy White Paper, published in 2013 - including the creation of 50,000 new employment opportunities in the sector by 2035
- Opportunities in the vocational education and training sector to support the shift from Higher National Diploma (HND) engineering studies to university degree engineering studies at Brunei’s National Engineering and Technology University
- ELT opportunities to support the opening of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) network in 2015 - all ten member countries intend to use English as the language for business
View all education opportunities in Brunei
3. Additional market information
3.1 Geographical considerations
Brunei is situated on the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia, and is made up of four districts: Brunei-Muara, Tutong, Belait and Temburong. The capital is Bandar Seri Begawan, located in Brunei-Muara District, which is the smallest and most populated district. Apart from its coastline with the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the state of Sarawak, Malaysia. With a population of just 415,717, Brunei is the smallest of the ten ASEAN members.
3.2 Education sector overview
The long-term development vision for Brunei, set out in Wawasan Brunei 2035 (Brunei’s national vision), makes education and human capital development key priorities. This is part of an initiative to foster innovation and enhance productivity through economic growth outside of the oil & gas sector, which currently accounts for 60% of GDP and more than 90% of total exports. Nonetheless, it has been revenue from Brunei’s abundant mineral wealth that has allowed the government to provide generous education services to all. The literacy rate, for instance, is more than 95%, and the gross enrolment rates both at primary and secondary levels are 100%. However, the gross enrolment rate for tertiary education is only 19.6%, considerably below rates in other Southeast Asian countries. In order to boost the tertiary education sector, oil and gas companies operating in Brunei (principally Brunei Shell, Total and Petronas) are encouraged to connect their research and development with Brunei’s institutes of higher education. The Universiti Brunei Darussalam Language Centre is growing fast, as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs channels through it a $25 million programme to teach English to officials from ASEAN countries.