TUARAN: The Ministry of Education, the state government and educators should all sit down together and find workable solutions to enhance education, especially in the teaching of English in Malaysia.
Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment, Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun, said blaming the past would not solve the problem, when referring to the English proficiency among students.
“We have gone through phases of development. I have to admit that there were good initiatives, good policies. There were also questionable policies,” he conceded.
But he pointed out, the problems could not be solved by blaming the past.
“Our job is to find solutions to the present problems. This is where we should look forward and come up with policies to make up for what we have not done in the past,” said Masidi, who is also the state education exco, after launching the state-level English Day programme by the state education department at SMK Sri Nangka here.
Masidi represented the Chief Minister, Datuk Seri Panglima Musa Haji Aman, at the event.
He also lauded the launch of the English Day programme, and stressed that consistency in the implementation of the programme was important.
Masidi added that the English Day programme went beyond the school compound, as students were encouraged to speak English with their parents at home.
He said the English Day could also be extended to a weekly or monthly programme.
Asked if the English language should be accepted in correspondences with government agencies, Masidi said the language is accepted as far as Sabah is concerned.
“In the Tourism (Culture and Environment) Ministry, I receive English correspondences all the time. It will be difficult to push tourism in Sabah if I only accept correspondences in Bahasa Malaysia, because there are writers who are not Malaysians,” he said.