10 April 2018

IBTE entered into an apprenticeship partnership with three telecommunication companies with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the 10th of April at the Lecture Theatre of the School of Aviation, IBTE Sultan Saiful Rijal Campus.The agreement saw 14 IBTE students enrolled under the institute’s HNTec Apprenticeship Scheme for Telecommunications and Information Technology programme.

They will undergo an on-the-job training at DST Communications Sdn Bhd, Progresif Cellular Sdn Bhd or Telekom Brunei Berhad (TelBru) during the course of their study.The MoU was signed by Munirah ‘Atirah binti Dato Paduka Haji Othman of IBTE; David J Holliday, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of TelBru; Paul Treston Taylor, CEO of Progresif Cellular Sdn Bhd; and Ramlah binti Haji Rabaha, Assistant General Manager of DST Group Human Resources on behalf of DST Communications Sdn Bhd.

Present to witness the signings was Haji Shariful Bahri bin Haji Sawas, Acting Deputy Commissioner of Labour, Ministry of Home Affairs. To date, some 46 apprentices have enrolled in the HNTec Apprenticeship Scheme since May 2014.

The apprenticeship scheme will help foster a long term partnership between IBTE with the industry to help train students and produce skilled technicians to fill the gaps that exist in the telecommunications sector. Through the apprenticeship schemes, IBTE is able to produce graduates with relevant occupational skills needed by the industry.

As with Germany’s Dual System Apprenticeship, IBTE’s Dual System Apprenticeship programme allows the students to concurrently earn while they learn. The Dual System Apprenticeship provides an effective means of bridging the gap between school and the real working world by exposing students to a real-world work environment during their training.

The workplace-oriented training programmes help in producing a highly skilled and job-ready workforce, allowing the apprentices to develop their skills to meet the needs of the industry and the labour market.The collaboration between IBTE and the three telecommunications firms will provide an avenue for the students to acquire valuable industry experience and training, thus enhancing their employability upon completion of the programme.

From the apprenticeship programme, the students will have the opportunity to maximise their learning experience and put theory to practice in a real working environment, as the programme combines institution-based training with on-the-job training which allows the students to understand both the practical and theoretical aspects of their jobs.