KUALA LUMPUR: The government will continue to give attention to all schools in the country, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said.
FAREWELL CALL: Muhyiddin greeting Syrian ambassador to Malaysia, Lamia Aasi (left) at his office during a farewell call. The ambassador will be leaving Malaysia after serving five years in the country.— Bernama photo
Muhyiddin who is also Education Minister said the 20 schools chosen as High Performance Schools (SBT) recently did not mean that the schools would get attention while the others were neglected.
“As the Education Minister, I want to see progress in all schools,” he said in the ‘Soal Jawab Bersama Timbalan Perdana Menteri’ programme by TV3 Monday night.
He said schools in rural areas faced shortage in trained teaching staff and infrastructure and that SBT was created to recognise and make them models to other schools.
Of the 20 schools, some were not expected to make but they showed it could be achieved with leadership, efficency and hard work.
The 20 High Performance Schools announced were 14 secondary and six primary schools from all over the country.
Muhyiddin said the government decision to change the teaching of science and mathematic from English did not mean that the universal language was being neglected.
He said several new initiatives were being planned to upgrade the teaching and command of English in schools.
It include the recruitment of 15 English trainers from overseas and 360 ‘master teachers’ from Britain and Australia.
There were also plans to increase English hours in class.
On the view that he was more a Deputy Prime Minister than Education Minister, Muhyiddin said it was only perception from the people who saw the Deputy Prime Minister’s post as more influential.
“I don’t think that I am not focusing on my duty as Education Minister. This is inaccurate.”
Muhyiddin said the children’s future would be bleak if certain groups continued to politicise educational issues. — Bernama