KUALA LUMPUR: The Education Ministry has already been encouraging students to take up a language other than Bahasa Malaysia and English, said Second Education Minister Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh.
"It is not unusual to learn a third language, or even more. We have already put forth initiatives to encourage students to pick up Mandarin, Tamil or Japanese. So, it is nothing new," said Idris when asked about Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin's call for students, especially from the Malay community, to master a third language.
At the Umno general assembly, Muhyiddin had said that the third language policy was already included in the schooling system, but added that too few took up the option.
However, Idris said this was because Malaysians were not accustomed to taking up a new language, which was why it was considered "odd".
"In Western countries, learning a new language is so natural, even if it is not native to them. Here, it is not part of the 'culture', which is why most people find it difficult to pick up a different language," he said after the launch of the National Lifelong Learning Seminar at Dewan Tun Hussein Onn, Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) here Monday.
On another issue, Idris said the ministry was also aware of the availability of drugs such as marijuana at local higher learning institutions, as published in The Star on Nov 11.
"We are aware of how serious this issue is and will be looking into ways of overcoming the misuse of drugs among students at colleges and universities," he said.
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