KUALA LUMPUR, 16 Jan 2018:
The Ministry of Education is targeting for all students at Chinese and Tamil national-type schools – or SJKC and SJKT – to achieve the stipulated standard of mastery of the Malay language after sitting for their Primary School Achievement Test (UPSR) so that they don’t have to go to remove classes.
Deputy Education Minister Datuk Chong Sin Woon said to achieve this goal, all parties should ensure students in the Chinese and Tamil schools do well in Malay – to pass the minimum level set at primary schools.
“Currently, 15% of students from national-type schools have to enter remove classes for a year before continuing their secondary school sessions.
“Students must obtain at least a D for their Bahasa Melayu (BM) paper in the UPSR to ensure that they do not have to go to remove classes.”
Chong said various efforts would be undertaken to strengthen BM in national-type schools through various appropriate approaches, such as the establishment of a special committee run by Chinese education NGOs, to find solutions to the problem.
“The committee – known as the Committee to Improve SJKCs BM Standard – will discuss and find solutions to help the pupils and the outcome of the discussions will be highlighted, in order to ensure zero remove classes.”
Meanwhile, Education Minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid in his inauguration speech at the Innovation Day, said the Teacher Education Institute should be prepared to meet the challenges of the Industrial Revolution 4.0 by providing a more holistic learning system and not only focus on classroom learning alone.
Mahdzir said the current education system needs to cater to the fast changing world in developing an innovative generation from various angles in line with the latest scientific and technological developments such as using online learning methods.
– Bernama