Guideline on English language initiative in Sarawak schools issued
KUCHING:
The Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Research has
issued a guideline on the initiative to improve the level of proficiency
in the English language in Sarawak schools.
In a letter dated
July 31 to all state elected representatives signed by the ministry’s
permanent secretary Datu Sudarsono Osman, he stated that the Sarawak
Education Department has implemented the English Highly Immersive
programmes (HIP).
The objectives of the HIP, according to him, are
to develop a highly immersive English language environment in schools
that supports English language learning; to increase student
participation in English language activities in schools and to increase
student proficiency in the English language through extended usage of
the English language both in and out of class.
“Our initiative is
therefore to complement the HIP with the intention to create a conducive
environment for teachers and students to communicate in English,”
Sudarsono stated in the letter cited by The Borneo Post yesterday.
The
letter was issued following the first letter from the ministry dated
June 15, which called for cooperation from all 82 elected
representatives to support the initiative to improve the level of
English language proficiency in schools.
On July 7, Minister of
Education, Science and Technological Research Dato Sri Michael Manyin
Jawong reportedly said his ministry would issue another circular to all
82 state elected representatives on guidelines to adopt schools in their
respective constituencies to improve English proficiency among students
soon.
He said the circular will also include a guideline for the
elected representatives to obtain consensus among parents and teachers
to support the initiative before it is adopted at the school.
Sudarsono
pointed out that for the initiative to be successfully implemented, the
school adoption must be with the consultation and agreement of the
principal and the parent-teacher association as the success of this
programme will be dependent upon the involvement of all parties
concerned.
“There must be leadership commitment from the school
concerned in order to ensure the success of this initiative. The
adoption is not restricted to only one school.”
He stated the initiative is on a voluntary basis and no additional funds will be allocated.
He
cited SK Ulu Lubai and SK Ba Kelalan as examples as they have
successfully implemented their initiatives on their own without any
additional funding.
Sudarsono also stated that parties concerned
are expected to come up with creative and interesting programmes to
encourage students’ participation.
“Education should not be
politicised. All are reminded not to take advantage of this initiative
as a publicity or political platform.”
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Interesting(0%) My comments: Each Sarawak assembly member is allocated RM5 million annually for MRP or whatsoever. Is it too much allocating RM50,000 (as against 5,000,000) annually to each school to buy English story books, magazines, newspaper and the like? Is it too much to give some allowance to teachers, parents or teachers' assistants or volunteers who help to teach, guide, facilitate and so on in the schools? Input in reading texts and listening is very very ..............................important to create fluency. For accuracy, well, drilling the grammatical forms and items is as important. Knowing the pronunciation and the related spelling is essential, too. Then, we shall see the results in the output. English is learnt as a second language here in Sarawak, my country. Thus, I believe in some deliberate effort is required.
KUCHING: State PKR chairman
Baru Bian said he was merely citing the findings of the Auditor-General
(AG)’s Report in his statement to the press without going into the
specifics that the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) had paid RM2.88
million to two contractors for paint jobs which were never done.
The Ba Kelalan assemblyman said at no time did he utter any names of persons or companies named in the report.
“I
have been falsely accused of tarnishing a nameless company and an
equally nameless contractor, and I cannot even sue for defamation as
they do not have the honour and the courage to own up to their
identities. This is cowardice at its worst,” he told a press conference
here yesterday.
Baru was responding to thesundaypost’s report in
which an unnamed contractor accused him of not checking the facts before
making allegations against the contractor’s company.
The unnamed
housing contractor in Miri denied not carrying out repainting work for a
housing project there despite having been paid by HDC. According to the
contractor, the repainting job was done and completed in 2015, and they
have every proof of that.
Baru further said that he was surprised
that anyone holding a press conference would instruct the press to
withhold his identity.
“If this person is truly blameless and
wishes to refute the facts in the AG’s report and in the ‘misleading
viral’, he should not be hiding behind anonymity. What is there to hide
if one is truly innocent of charges made against one? How does one clear
one’s name without identifying himself?”
He stressed that the AG’s audit has set processes, which are followed when they carry out their work.
“If
the contractor’s name, whatever it may be, is cited in the report, I am
sure that he would have been given an opportunity to present his case
to the AG during their investigations. If he is saying that due process
was not carried out and the AG’s report was inaccurate, then he should
take issue with the AG. Perhaps he should consider suing the AG for
defamation.”
Baru said as the Minister of Local Government and
Housing Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian has indicated that his ministry will probe
the shortcomings in HDC, perhaps it may be better to hand over the
matter to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to
investigate.
“The involvement of the MACC may be warranted as huge
sums of money are involved and the people of Sarawak will be better
assured if an independent party is tasked to carry out thorough
investigations in this matter.”
Baru added it is a sad reflection
of the decaying morals of man and society when individuals hide behind
anonymity to make false accusations and portray perceived innocence.
My comments:
I think something has gone really wrong with the UMNO-BN government to expect anymore trust. I hope Sarawakians will stay united to flush out UMNO-BN once and for all. We need a new government for Sarawak to stand clean and clear in all accounts.
