SHAH ALAM: About a third of English Language teachers in the country have been classified as “incapable” or “unfit” to teach the subject in schools.
Education Minister II Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh said such teachers had been sent for courses to improve their proficiency in the language.
“The ministry will also consider sending them overseas for exchange programmes to take up TESL (Teaching of English as a Second Language) courses,” he said during a dialogue session on the National Education Blueprint 2013-2025 held at the Karangkraf headquarters here yesterday.
Idris, who did not state the number of such teachers, assured that a good portion of them had enrolled in English courses locally.
Recently, it was revealed that about 70% out of the 60,000 English Language teachers, who sat for the English Language Cambridge Placement Test, performed poorly.
On allegations that the Government was sidelining vernacular schools through the blueprint, Idris denied this, saying “all schools were treated equally”.
“We do not sideline any party. In fact, the ministry encourages everyone to learn more languages. Be it Chinese, Tamil, French or Spanish, the government will be proud if a Malaysian can master these languages,” he stressed.
The United Chinese School Committees’ Association of Malaysia (Dong Zong) protested against the blueprint, saying that increasing teaching time for Bahasa Malaysia from 270 minutes to 300 minutes for lower primary and 180 minutes to 270 minutes for upper primary pupils was a move by the Government to eradicate mother tongue education.
- The Star/Asia News Network
Related news:
Teachers and principals ready for education blueprint's challenges
Ministry: More special needs children to go mainstream
Related posts:
Charting the way forward for English-medium schools in Malaysia
Right ways to boost teaching of English in Malaysia
Upgrade the standard of education to defrag high cost
Malaysia must produce better school teachers
