KOTA KINABALU: Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman urged teachers to master several languages as part of the efforts to achieve the aspirations set out in the Malaysian Education Development Plan (PPPM) 2013 – 2025.
In his speech read by Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Yahya Hussin at the official launching of the state-level Teachers’ Day 2013 yesterday, Musa pointed out the importance of mastering multilingual abilities among students, which must therefore be preceded by the teachers.
“One of the aspirations lined out in the PPPM is for students to be able to master two languages, namely Bahasa Malaysia as the national language, and English not only as the second, but international communication language.
“Therefor, students from all backgrounds and ethnicity ought to learn at least three languages, which are these two, and one other, be they Mandarin, Arabic, or mother-tongues such as Kadazandusun or Bajau in Sabah.
Having said that, he urged teachers to improve their multilingual skills to ensure communication in these languages smoothly and fluently.
Meanwhile, Musa also called on teachers to be updated with current issues, especially those pertaining to education, in line with this year’s Teachers’ Day theme, ‘Guru Malaysia: 1 Aspirasi, 1 Agenda’, (Malaysian Teachers: 1 Aspiration, 1 Agenda).
“I urge all you teachers to continue your goodwill in upholding education in the country as part of the effort to set the standards to be on par with international levels,” he said.
“The government and the rest of the people place high hopes in our teachers to implement the responsibilities entrusted to you to educate our children.
“And we understand that the challenges in carrying out those responsibilities will keep getting tougher as the demand of your stakeholders keep increasing. Hence, we assure you that the state government will always be supporting the efforts of the State Education Department in its efforts to produce excellent students and improve education in Sabah,” stressed Musa.