KUALA LUMPUR, 23 Nov 2017:
Reintroduction of English medium schools in the country will require thorough research and discussions before implementation, said Deputy Education Minister Datuk Chong Sin Woon.
He said it would be the major topic to be discussed in detail, taking into consideration views of the ministry’s legal advisor together with the related parties.
“English medium schools have been converted into Malay medium schools, which was after we had the Education Act. Under the Act, we only have Chinese and Tamil stream schools at the primary level.
“Maybe some would ask for English medium schools to be reintroduced, in the end, maybe others would not agree, so let’s be open and discuss this,” he told reporters at Parliament House yesterday.
However, Chong said the government – via the Education Ministry – had a clear road map to improve and enhance the students’ proficiency in English.
“With the Dual Language Programme and Highly Immersive Programme, we are going in the right direction. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has also instructed us to focus on how to enhance students’ proficiency of English.
“We also retrained all our 40,000 English teachers, So everything is set to move forward to improve our English standard.”
A survey by Singapore’s Yusof Ishak Institute (Iseas) released on Nov 13 revealed that eight out of 10 Johoreans want the return of English-medium schools in the state.
The Sultan of Johor Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, as reported in media, also urged Malaysia to revive English medium schools – much like those in Singapore – pointing out that because of the policy, the island state has done well for itself.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan also stated English-medium schools should be re-established in this country to improve students’ English language proficiency to enable them to compete in a world that will be full of challenges in future.
– Bernama