ID :
147434
Tue, 10/26/2010 - 10:25
Auther :

370 FOREIGN ENGLISH LANGUAGE EXPERTS TO BE RECRUITED FROM 2011

MELAKA (Malaysia), Oct 25 (Bernama) -- The Education Ministry will hire 370
English language experts from abroad starting next year to monitor teaching of
the language in Malaysian schools.

Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said the recruitment was in line with the
implementation of the government's policy of upholding the Malay language and
strengthening use of the English language (MBMMBI) for Year One pupils from next
year.

"They (the experts) will see how our teachers teach their pupils English," he
said at a Titipan Naluri dialogue programme with trainees of the southern states
of Melaka, Johor and Negeri Sembilan teacher training institutes, at the Melaka
Women's Teacher Training Institute, here, Monday.

The MBMMBI was introduced to replace the policy of teaching of science and
mathematics in the English language (PPSMI), which will be abolished in 2012
after discovering that the policy failed to achieve the objective of improving
students' proficiency in English while it (policy) has also affected the
performance of students, especially in the rural areas, in the two subjects.

Muhyiddin, who is also Education Minister, said the government had no worries
about upholding the status of the Malay language as most of the serving teachers
were already trained in the language.

"The challenge for us now is how to strengthen usage of the English
language. That is why we need our teachers to be exposed again through courses
during the holidays so as to be more proficient in the language."

He said the English proficiency of trainees at the teacher training
institutes would also be improved so that they would not face problems when they
start teaching in schools.

"We will soon explain to the public the MBMMBI policy so that they will
understand it and help ensure its successful implementation."

Muhyiddin also said the ministry would be finding a way to balance the number of
male and female trainee teachers because the former's number was currently
lower.

He said that up to August, there were 34,512 trainees at the 27 teacher training institutes in the country, comprising 22,805 women and 11,707 men.

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