KUALA LUMPUR: A National Service for teachers. Native English speakers as school "mentors". English during assemblies, in the corridors, and every day in classrooms.
These are among the ideas floating in the Education Ministry to strengthen students' English language proficiency, alongside its plan for a mammoth shift in the way its teachers are trained and deployed.
Fully aware that improving the proficiency of English among students will take more than increasing scheduled lessons, the ministry is thinking up doable, practical and fun ways to make it a complete culture of sorts in schools.
On the suggestion cards? Having daily public speaking sessions in classrooms and in schools, reading baskets, speaker's corners, mobile libraries and the "Drop Everything and Read" (DEAR) programme which are meant to increase the students' use of English.
 |
| Datuk Noor Rezan Bapoo Hashim is the point person for the English Language mission |
The recent reversal of the teaching of Science and Mathematics in English (PPSMI) has left many parents concerned about the implications on their children, with a majority of those in urban areas voicing out their objections.
The ministry, aware of these concerns, has appointed Datuk Noor Rezan Bapoo Hashim as its main point person for their English Language mission, and the deputy director-general (General Education Operations) has the experience for the job as a former teacher, headmistress and current administrator.
"It will not be touch and go. We are in this for the long run," she said in a recent interview.
She heads an advisory group which includes English Language experts and educationists such as Datuk Leela Mohd Ali, British Council's Tricia Thorlby, English Language Teaching Centre's Dr Choong Kam Foong and Universiti Malaya's language and literacy education professor Moses Samuel.
"We want this to be our think-tank, with a mix of people who will be champions for the English language.
"We know that teacher training is of utmost importance and are identifying areas of focus to bridge the gap between the urban and rural areas," Noor Rezan said.
One of the ideas being bandied about by the group, also called the Committee to Strengthen English Language Education, is that all teachers starting out in the profession should perform "National Service" for a few years by serving in rural areas, when they are young, passionate and single.
"It is important that teachers should know this National Service should not be thought of as punishment. It is a very big service which we are in dire need of," she said.
There will be a big focus on teachers, as the ministry realises that there can be no success in their bid to strengthen English Language proficiency among students if there are isufficient number of adequately trained teachers.
To address the mismatch of English language teachers within different states, Noor Rezan said the committee was looking at options for a massive redeployment exercise that would seek to place teachers where they were most needed in the most practical way that they could do it.
 |
It is no secret that one of the biggest problems faced by the ministry is that teachers, mostly women, are reluctant to move to rural or interior areas, or even to different states, and uproot their families.
Some states also constantly face shortages of qualified English teachers, such as Johor, which Noor Rezan admitted was a state the ministry found problematic. Teachers often refuse to move there.
"We are also studying whether we can perhaps work on triangulation, that is to see if we can move teachers within neighbouring states such as Kedah, Perlis and Penang, for example. We are going to study mobility really carefully because it is our biggest challenge."
To ensure that the weakest schools and areas are carefully monitored, there are plans to employ trained native English speakers who will mentor teachers in a cluster of selected schools.
An example would be to have two native-speaking experts to look after around eight schools, where they can sit in the classrooms, observe teaching methods and be hands on with teachers, offering guidance and suggestions.
In-service training may also be complemented by teacher training in secondary schools, feature creative pedagogy and may be monitored by "neutral bodies" like universities or non-governmental organisations.
Also among the strategies being considered to improve the quality of teachers are to enhance pre-service training with English Language experts, multiple intelligence tests, more informal activities and training, as well as career guidance and explanation for trainee teachers.
Noor Rezan said the committee was in the midst of preparing these ideas, which would be sent for approval, and also wanted to conduct road shows and dialogues with stakeholders about their plans.
These efforts to strengthen English Language skills among students may also be instrumental to improving teaching and learning in schools as a whole, if some of the more creative ideas were adopted with the right spirit in schools, she said.
"We could even have students assessing the teachers anonymously. Back in the days when I was teaching, I even had assessments from my students, allowing me to improve on my teaching."
No comments:
Post a Comment