PENAMPANG: Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Wilfred Madius Tangau is urging the government to focus on the teaching of the KadazanDusun language at the Kent Teachers Training College in Tuaran.
This is because Kent Teachers Training College is the oldest in Sabah, and it is also the one to start teaching the KazadanDusun language to trainee teachers, Madius said.
“At the Kent Teachers Training College there are already 60 students majoring in the KadazanDusun language and there are another 40 in the training college in Keningau. This has resulted in the resources being spread thinly so I would like to suggest that the government focuses whatever resources and funding to Kent Teachers Training College,” Madius said at the state-level traditional music competition and fund-raising dinner here on Sunday night.
While the government has allocated funds for the Tamil and Chinese languages for the teaching and other activities related to the languages, there is no fund as yet for the KadazanDusun language. The government should consider this, the acting Upko president opined.
He also raised the issue of the placement of teachers who have been trained in the KadazanDusun (language).
“They have not been properly placed in schools where they are needed. As a result, most of the schools are dependent on teachers who are not trained to teach the KadazanDusun language.
“What we need is to see some coordination between the Education Ministry and the teachers training colleges or the universities where they should be placed. This must be done early so that the graduates will know where they will be teaching instead of waiting.
“Some of them have to wait for more than a year. Last year there were about 100 of these teachers waiting to be placed in schools for more than a year, so I intervened. I had a dialogue with them and eventually I wrote a letter to my colleague and today all have received their placement but not all are teaching KadazanDusun. Some are teaching Bahasa Melayu and some are even doing counselling.
“So it is unfortunate that this resource is not put to proper use and I am very concerned about this,” he said.
Madius also urged the various institutions and organizations that are dealing with the promotion of the KadazanDusun language to come together to develop the language’s future.
According to him the KadazanDusun language is being taught in schools based on an agreement between KDCA and USDA.
“Without this the KadazanDusun language would not have been taught in schools. The agreement is very basic, that the language is to be called KadazanDusun and that the core of the language will be the ‘bundu liwan’ dialects,” he said.
“If you were to do anything outside of this (the agreement), old disputes will arise. I went through it when I was the chairman of the KDCA’s KadazanDusun language bureau and we organised the first symposium on this matter. I know exactly the sentiments and we do not want to revisit that.
“I know there are arguments and these have been debated in parliament. I was involved and we should not debate further on this. We should enrich it. Research, documentation, and publication should be based on this.
“We have progressed this far in the teaching of the KadazanDusun language in schools; teachers are being trained and they are very thankful to the government,” he said.