PUTRAJAYA, July 8 — The government today decided to strengthen the teaching and learning of Bahasa Malaysia (BM) and English at all school levels, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said today.
Muhyiddin, who is Education Minister, said the Education Ministry would implement comprehensive measures to enhance the command of both languages among students.
He said that in the efforts to empower the teaching of the BM, the subject’s curriculum would undergo a massive transformation at primary and secondary school levels with focus given to enhancing the language skills among students.
“It will be implemented through an integrated, balanced and holistic modular approach. It will cover skills like listening, speaking, reading and writing as well as the command of the language in terms of grammar and proficiency.
“At the primary school level, the BM curriculum will focus on fun learning and the appreciation of the language,” he told a news conference.
At the secondary school level, Muhyiddin said, the BM curriculum would focus on the appreciation of Malay literature as well as bolstering students’ skills in grammar, reading, listening, writing, speaking and the overall command of the language.
“The emphasis on Malay literature is to enrich the students’ command of the language as an art, apart from demonstrating the Malaysian people’s value system, culture and thinking,” he said.
On the teaching and learning of English, he said, the ministry would appoint an additional 13,933 English teachers, comprising 1,000 teachers from abroad, 600 retired teachers who would be reemployed and 12,333 additional teachers from the Malaysian Institute of Teachers’ Education as well as from private and public institutions of higher learning.
“The ministry would also provide DG41 English assistant teachers for Year One and Year Two classes which have more than 35 pupils to increase the contact time between teachers and pupils,” he said.
The English subject period for the lower primary school (Year One to Year Three) would be increase by 90 minutes a week, making it 330 minutes a week while the upper primary school (Year Four to Year Six) would also be increased by 90 minutes to 300 minutes a week, he said.
The English subject period for the national-type Chinese and Tamil primary schools would also be increased – by 60 minutes to 120 minutes a week for the lower primary level and by 30 minutes to 120 minutes a week for the upper primary level.
“The English subject period for Form One to Six will be increased by 80 minutes to 280 minutes a week, from 200 minutes at the moment.
“The time allocation for the Malaysian University English Test (Muet) for Form Six classes would be increased by 80 minutes to 400 minutes a week, from 320 minutes at the moment,” he said.
For matriculation level, the period would be increased from three hours to six hours a week.
Apart from that, an English contemporary literature programme for children would also be introduced for all upper primary pupils.
Other measures to strengthen the teaching and learning of English would also be implemented including the setting up of English laboratories in schools.
“Schools will also be utilising the information technology in the teaching and learning of English,” he said.
To expose students to science terminologies, the elements of science and technology would be incorporated into the teaching of English, he said. – Bernama
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They reversed Dr M's legacy and his finest and most courageous gift to future generations.