ONE FOR THE ALBUM: (From third left, back row) Ministry of Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Sibu branch chief Balraj Singh, Sibu Resident Sim Kok Kee, Abdillah, MDTCC state director Wan Ahmad Uzir Wan Sulaiman, Sibu Divisional education officer Wong Chung Kung (second right, back row) and winners of the competition in a group photo.
SIBU: Native speakers of English language engaged by the Education Ministry are well spread across the state to help students, including those in the hinterlands to improve their command of English.
The state’s Education Department director Abdillah Adam finds the services of foreign English language experts from the United Kingdom, Canada and so on, most helpful in the teaching of the language.
“They are well distributed across Sarawak; some are in teachers training colleges while others in schools. We try to give in every district; as far as possible, we would like them to be distributed across the state so that even those in rural areas can benefit from their services to improve their acquisition and command of the English language,” Abdillah told The Borneo Post.
He added, “Students would be able to learn proper pronunciation, intonation, language structure, vocabulary and others from them.
“The move by the ministry is a step forward,” he said.
Abdillah was asked on the impact of the services of the foreign English language experts and consultants on the teaching of the English language.
Met at the recent prize presentation cum closing ceremony of the state-level ‘School Consumer Club Interactive Challenge Competition 2012’ here, he said students had no problem in understanding English and only needed some improvements for language structure, grammar, pronunciation and so on.
Asked if he was satisfied with the achievement of English for SPM 2011, he noted there was improvement for the subject.
He hoped that such positive trend would continue.
Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was quoted by Bernama last year as saying the Education Ministry would hire 370 foreign English language experts from 2011 to monitor the teaching of the language in Malaysian schools.
Muhyiddin was also cited to be saying that the recruitment was in line with the implementation of the government’s policy of upholding the Malay language and strengthening the use of the English language.
Meanwhile, on the overall SPM result, Abdillah said this was the state’s best achievement in the last six years.
“Our average grade (GPN) is 5.39 compared to 5.09 at national level,” he enthused.
He also revealed that they had a theme, ‘Menjulang Sarawak’, aimed to raise the low ranking of the state to be among the best in the country.
“Starting this year, we have a theme to bring Sarawak to the forefront in the fields of academics, sports and co-curriculum activities,” he said.