In the past twelve years (1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009), Brunei Darussalam has implemented three major educational policies: (1) inclusive education, in 1998; (2) the National Education System for the 21 st Century known in Malay as Sistem Pendidikan Negara Abad 21 or SPN21, 2008; and (3) education for the gifted / talented students, 2009. These changes are partly designed to diversify and broaden the provision of education and the development of the country's human resources. However the success of these reforms will depend on many factors such as the suitability of the teachers, availability of funds, quality of schools, and changes in examinations. The present qualitative study analyses and reviews selected technical innovations to examinations that need to be undertaken concurrently with the ongoing curriculum reforms to support the new initiatives. The issues discussed include over-emphasis on examinations; assessment of affective skills; assessment of vocational and technical subjects; use of informal assessments in school-based evaluations; moderation of marks for borderline students; the relationship between formative and summative assessments; changes to teacher education courses that deal with school assessments; and nationalization of the senior secondary school examinations. A content analysis of the skills measured by current school examinations and a needs assessment research to reform the present school evaluation procedures were recommended to gain in-depth insights.

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The study compared the mathematical problems encountered by Brunei students in first year (Form 1 with no repeaters) and second year (Form 2 with many repeaters) of lower secondary school. Participants consisted of 67 Form 1s and 46 Form 2s. Results from the Wide Range Achievement Test and the Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery indicated that the students had wide ranging difficulties in learning mathematics under the ongoing inclusive education and SPN21 curriculum reforms. Form 1 females significantly outperformed their male counterparts on both tests. A significant gender difference in performance among the Form 2s was obtained only on the Woodcock-Johnson test in favor of males. Overall, Form 1s significantly performed better than the Form 2s on both tests. Scores from Form 1s on the two tests correlated negatively and insignificantly whereas scores of Form 2s on the same instruments had a positive and significant relationship. Scores of the Form 1s and Form 2s on both tests were negatively related. Performance differences and error analyses of selected challenging items are discussed to inform and guide possible remedial interventions. Findings demonstrated that mere repetition of a class or grade was neither therapeutic nor advantageous unless factors that disable learning were identified and addressed.

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Problem-based learning (PBL) provides an appealing framework for teaching and learning not only within the subject of geography but also across other disciplines. It promotes a healthy environment for active learning with its diverse sets of activities, helping students carry out investigative inquiry in the learning processes. This study examines the potential benefits of adopting a PBL approach in teaching and learning in secondary geography classrooms. It takes into account the inputs needed from both teacher and students in determining the success of the approach implementation. The study shows how, through careful planning and preparation, PBL activities can effectively enhance students' engagements and improve their grasp of geographical content knowledge. However, the teacher's shortcomings in performing the role of facilitator did highlight a limitation for the research, which hindered the success of the implementation. Future research should continue to actively examine experiences from teachers in PBL applications, discussing the circumstances to identify the conditions necessary for successful implementation of PBL within a variety of contexts.

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The survey investigated the extent to which Brunei trainee teachers used the task-oriented, emotion-oriented, and avoidance-oriented coping strategies when in stressful situations. Data collection employed the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations. Participants consisted of 118 educational psychology student teachers at the University of Brunei Darussalam. Of these, 89 (75%) were females while 29 (25%) were males. The sample comprised of 71 (60%) BEd and 47 (40%) PGCE students. Overall, the task-oriented strategy was the most used coping method followed by the avoidance-oriented style. There were no significant gender and program of study differences in the way participants employed the three coping procedures. Age, gender, and program of study were not significantly correlated with the three coping strategies. The coping strategies were found to be distinct ways of reacting to and relieving stress according to the Brunei sample. Further mixed methods research was recommended to gain additional insights on the problem.

In the last decade, the emergence of diverse students in a streamed class based on the mathematical ability brought upon challenges for the teacher to find an approach which could accommodate all students. This study aims to investigate the connection of students' ability with their learning preferences in mathematics by applying differentiated instruction using tiered assignments and parallel tasks. This qualitative approach was used for this study from a sample of year 7 mathematics students within Pengukuhan Kemahiran Asas programme (PeKA) (the Basic Skills Strengthening programme), which revolved upon low ability for students with very weak numeracy skills. The findings in general revealed that there is an improvement in their performance.