BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Wednesday 26 August 2015 – By the consent of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, following the decommissioning of the Royal Brunei Air Force’s Bell 212 helicopter fleet last year, the Ministry of Defence has today officiated the handover of two Bell 212 Helicopters, related spare parts and ground support equipments to the Institute of Brunei Technical Education (IBTE) in the Ministry of Education.
Present as Guest of Honours to witness the official handover ceremony organised by the IBTE held at the newly build Aircraft Department, MTSSR Campus were Datin Paduka Hjh Suriyah binti Haji Umar, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Defence and Dato Paduka Haji Mohd Amin Liew bin Abdullah, Chairman of the IBTE Board of Governors.
Also present during the ceremony were Directors from the Ministry of Defence and senior officers from IBTE.
The opening remarks were delivered by Dr Chin Wei Keh, Chief Executive Officer of IBTE which was followed by the signing ceremony between the Ministry of Defence and the Institute of Brunei Technical Education and was witnessed by the two guests of honour.
Signing on behalf of IBTE was Dr Chin Wei Keh and representing the Ministry of Defence was the Director of Logistic, Captain Hussein bin Dato Paduka Haji Mohamad, RBN.
With the addition of the helicopters as teaching aids, it is hoped that IBTE can better facilitate the teaching and learning process of military and civilian students undergoing the four courses offered by the college in Skill Certificate in Basic Aircraft Engineering, Skill Certificate in Aircraft Support Engineering, Diploma in Aircraft Maintenance Engineering (Avionics) and Diploma in Aircraft Maintenance Engineering (Airframe & Engine).
Jointly run with Air Technical Training School in the Royal Brunei Air Force, students will have a better understanding of the theory and practice of the subject to better prepare them for the challenging career in the Royal Brunei Air Force and in the Aviation Industry as a whole.
This effort is inline with Brunei Wawasan 2035 and IBTE’s mission to produce highly skilled and employable graduates that meet stakeholders’ expectation through holistic learning environment. Once employed with these solid foundations, graduates will be working on live aircrafts where they will undergo the special to type aircraft familiarization training at their respective work areas.
Currently, a total of 72 students mostly for the Royal Brunei Air Force and the Royal Brunei Airlines, are studying in the four programs offered by the Aircraft Department, IBTE in the MTSSR campus.
The Bell 212 started its service with Royal Brunei Air Force in February 1974. One of the main roles played by the aircrafts was to ferry Flying Doctor service to rural areas in Negara Brunei Darussalam. This role was carried out since the beginning of its service in 1974 until the last day of its service on 1 August 2014.
