Fatimah (centre) witnesses the handing over of duties from Assistant Minister for Solidarity Rosey Yunus (right) to newly-appointed Assistant Minister for Early Childhood Education and Family Development Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali.
KUCHING: The 11th Preschool Education Convention will be held from Sept 23-25 at Kingwood Hotel, Sibu.
Minister of Welfare, Women and Community Wellbeing Datuk Fatimah Abdullah said this year’s theme will be ‘All Children Can Speak English’.
“This is an apt theme, considering recent developments whereby the Chief Minister (Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem) declared English as a second official language for the state,” she told a press conference yesterday.
“We are targeting 400 to 500 preschool teachers to participate. Early childhood centre teachers are also welcome. Those who are interested to take part can get in touch with our ministry.”
Fatimah said the convention aims to increase teachers’ professionalism in preschool education.
“It will increase the awareness among participants on the current issues regarding the teaching and learning of English in early childhood education, improve pedagogy knowledge and skills in teaching and learning English and to give opportunity to participants to share their best practices at their respective centres or institutions.
“During the convention, there will be presentations of working papers, a forum on the issues and challenges of teaching and learning English as well as workshops where participants break out into smaller groups for additional information sharing and input,” she said.
She added there will also be a sing-along session.
“Sing-along is an important part in the learning process. It is a fun way to acquire knowledge in the language,” she said.