PENAMPANG: The French Embassy and the Ministry of Education through public schools are making efforts to encourage more students to take up French as a third language due to the various benefits of being fluent in the language.
One of such efforts was translated into the Immersion France at Borneo programme initiated by the French Embassy Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysia France University Centre and Sekolah Menengah (SM) St Michael Penampang through the Ministry of Education, which was held at the school here yesterday.
“The programme is aimed at highlighting the importance of mastering foreign language, French in particular, which would not only enable them to converse in the language but also provide them with the opportunity to further their studies in France as well as other French-speaking countries,” said Head of Education Department of French Embassy Kuala Lumpur, Nicolas Gouletquer.
He said that with education being free in France, with students having to pay only a registration fee of up to RM1,500 a year, they would be able to secure a high-quality diploma in any field including Engineering and Business, at a very affordable cost.
Six out of the eight schools in Sabah that offer French as a third language took part in the programme yesterday, namely SM St Michael, SM Sains Labuan, SM Sains Lahad Datu, SM Sains Kota Kinabalu, Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Sanzac and SMK Elopura Sandakan.
The schools are among the 85 public secondary schools in Malaysia that offer French as a third language, with a total of 13,060 students.
Although schools such as St Michael had taught the language for the past five years, it was the first time such a programme was held, hoping to do more in the future.
Gouletquer said that various programmes had been held in Kuala Lumpur, but a few here in Sabah.
“One of the biggest annual events we are holding is the Le French Festival, a one-month festival organised by the Alliance Francaise de Kuala Lumpur and the Embassy of France in Malaysia to promote French art and cultural exchanges,” he said.
While no such event has been held in Sabah, Gouletquer said that there were plans to do so, by setting up Alliance Francaise here.
Alliance Francaise is a non-profit making French cultural and language association that currently has two centres in Malaysia, namely in Kuala Lumpur and Penang.
Gouletquer said that the growing interest in the French language and culture here led to this plan, which could serve as a French hub in East Malaysia.
SM St Michael’s French teacher, Cassandra Tan said that students who took up the language would learn it in a number of levels throughout their years in secondary school.
To qualify for further studies in France, she said students were required to have at least a qualification of Level 4 in French and taking them in secondary schools would enable them to go up to Level 3.