A child gets screened. A referral follows. Help may arrive. But what happens when preschool begins? Brunei’s new NICEe promises a bridge between early intervention and education. The real test lies beyond its doors: whether support follows every child, across ministries, districts and classrooms, without leaving families to navigate alone.
KOPITALK WITH MHO | TEACHERS’ DAY REPORT, PART TWO
A new centre for children aged two to four arrives as demand on existing services rises. Whether support follows each child into preschool will decide its worth.
By Malai Hassan Othman
BERAKAS, 25 September 2026 — A child is screened, referred and given developmental support. Then comes another question for the family: what happens when it is time for early education?
That is the larger test facing the National Intervention Centre for Early Childhood Education, or NICEe, approved by His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, at Wednesday’s 36th Teachers’ Day celebration.
Under the titah, the centre is intended for children aged two to four and is due to begin in 2027. The education, health, culture, youth and sports, and home affairs ministries will jointly lead it.
NICEe arrives amid rising demand. In March 2025, Health Minister Dato Seri Setia Dr Haji Mohammad Isham bin Haji Jaafar told the Legislative Council that referrals to doctors at the Child Development Centre, or CDC, rose from 400 in 2010 to 1,056 in 2024. Dr Hajah Mawarni binti Haji Abdul Hamid, head of the CDC, reported 957 referrals in 2023.
The Minister acknowledged that the increase had affected waiting times, calling it a challenge in ensuring each child receives intervention promptly, and said the ministry would review additional needs, including manpower and space.
At a paediatric symposium in September 2023, Dr Mawarni reported waits ranging from a few days to seven months for a CDC doctor’s appointment. Autism assessments could take longer, she said, and staff numbers had not kept pace with demand.
The strain is felt at home. One parent told KopiTalk of a long wait before their child could be seen at the CDC. For a family, an appointment delayed by months can mean lost time at an age when developmental support may make a difference. The question is whether more capacity can reach children sooner.
In December 2024, Dr Mawarni said about 16 per cent of the roughly 6,300 children born in Brunei each year are referred to the CDC. The figure indicates the scale of demand, although referrals span different ages and cannot establish the proportion of any one birth cohort needing the service. They exclude children referred to the hospital in Kuala Belait.
About 55 per cent of CDC referrals involved speech delay and about 25 per cent involved signs of autism, she said. These were reasons for referral, not confirmed diagnoses.
But waiting for intervention is only one part of a child’s journey. The next challenge is carrying the support a child needs into preschool, without leaving parents to manage each handover themselves.
Brunei already has early intervention services. The Ministry of Health lists an Early Developmental Programme at the CDC in Kiarong, alongside medical assessment, psychology, speech and language therapy, audiology, physiotherapy, occupational therapy and medical social work.
The CDC was established in 1999. When it moved into its Kiarong premises in 2021, its early developmental programme was described as serving children with special needs under five. NICEe’s proposed two-to-four age range therefore overlaps work already being done.
That overlap need not be a problem. Dr Mawarni has described the CDC’s approach as one involving the immediate family, education, welfare and non-governmental organisations. NICEe could extend that link between developmental care and education, if each service has a clear role and a child’s support continues across them.
The titah points the same way. His Majesty spoke of strengthening the early intervention system — memperkukuh sistem intervensi awal kanak-kanak — rather than simply adding a facility. A system is judged by how its parts connect.
The Ministry of Education runs assessment, intervention and specialist services of its own. Its primary education pathway includes preschool, generally attended at age five. NICEe would sit in the years immediately before that transition.
That positioning suggests a purpose larger than providing another place for intervention. It could help children build the skills and confidence to learn, while preparing teachers and families for their entry into preschool.
Could is the important word. Details have yet to be announced on whether children will move from the CDC to NICEe, receive support from both, or reach NICEe through preschools and childcare centres.
Nor has it yet been set out who will coordinate assessments, explain options to parents or ensure that relevant support plans reach a child’s next teacher. Those details will determine whether the services form a pathway.
The Ministry of Health has already expanded early detection. By March 2025, the Health Minister told the Legislative Council, 3,127 toddlers had been screened using an autism screening checklist, and 100 had been referred to the CDC for further assessment.
A referral is not a diagnosis. Nor does the figure tell us how many children need NICEe. It does show why a system that identifies needs early must be able to respond to them.
Families may also seek help from non-governmental organisations listed by the Department of Community Development, such as KACA, Pusat Ehsan and SMARTER. Their work broadens the support available, but no published national figure shows how many two-to-four-year-olds need places or where provision falls short.
CDC registrations also point to a continuing caseload. Dr Mawarni reported 7,493 children registered since 2010, with 6,797 holding active appointments in December 2023. Active appointments include ongoing care; they are not a count of children awaiting a first assessment.
That matters when the promise is equitable access. Figures have yet to be announced on how many children NICEe can serve, which specialists will work there, and whether it will add capacity to the system or draw on staff already serving children elsewhere.
Location will matter just as much. The CDC is in Kiarong, and some children in Belait are referred to the hospital in Kuala Belait instead. NICEe’s site and arrangements for families in Belait, Tutong and Temburong have yet to be announced.
A service can be available nationally yet hard for a family to use regularly if travel, appointments and school arrangements must all be managed at a distance.
At the Teachers’ Day celebration, Education Minister Yang Berhormat Datin Seri Setia Dr Hajah Romaizah binti Haji Mohd Salleh said four ministries had begun developing a national early childhood care and education framework for children from birth to five: Education, Religious Affairs, Culture, Youth and Sports, and Health.
The framework covers early care and education, health, nutrition, family protection and Melayu Islam Beraja values. It includes NICEe’s age group, but the lead ministries are not identical: Religious Affairs sits on the framework, Home Affairs on the centre. How the two will operate together has yet to be set out.
Timing is why these details matter. Dr Mawarni has said early intervention can bring developmental change while a child’s nervous system is still malleable and responsive.
His Majesty’s aim is clear: inclusive early education should give every child, regardless of background or ability, an equal opportunity to develop. The centre offers a chance to make that commitment tangible.
For parents, the measure will be the whole journey: prompt assessment, suitable help, and support that follows the child into the classroom.
Sources
Titah of His Majesty at the 36th Teachers’ Day celebration, 23 September 2026, and the Minister of Education’s address at the same event.
Legislative Council Hansard, 13 March 2025 (Minister of Health on CDC referrals, waiting times and autism screening).
Borneo Bulletin, 11 September 2023 (Paediatric Symposium) and 7 December 2023 (CDC caseload figures).
The Scoop, 2 December 2024 (CDC referral rates and reasons for referral).
Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education websites; Department of Community Development list of NGOs; Pelita Brunei (CDC Kiarong premises, 2021).
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