DLP available to Year Four

Tasty bites: (From left) iStar Events managing director Datuk Adrianna Law, Star Media Group editor-in-chief Datuk Leanne Goh and Deputy Education Minister Datuk P. Kamalanathan trying deconstructed cendol at the UCSI University booth at the Star Education Fair 2018. Looking on (from right) are UCSI University assistant professor Chef Mohammad Fadzly Che Omar and UCSI University Student Enrolment Centre national marketing senior manager Chan Joe Jim.

KUALA LUMPUR: Year Four pupils in both new and existing Dual Language Programme (DLP) schools will be allowed to enrol in such classes this year once schools have received their parents’ written consent.

Schools are not prevented from offering the DLP to Year Four pupils this year, said a source in the Education Ministry.

There has been a suggestion for Year Four pupils to be given the chance to prove they can cope with the programme before these pupils are allowed to continue in the programme.

As Year Four pupils have spent the first three years of their primary education in Bahasa Malaysia, schools need to pay special attention to ensure these pupils are able to cope with the switch in the medium of instruction.

“Parents need to assess their child’s ability to handle the language switch. This is to prevent the child from struggling in Year Four.

“Education is a collective responsibility and the ministry, state and district offices, school leaders, teachers, parents and the community have a part to play in ensuring the success of this programme, and that our children benefit from DLP,” said the source.

There has been a lot of uncertainty over the fate of Year Four DLP pupils since the Education Ministry announced that the latest batch of approved DLP schools are only allowed to open Year One and Form One classes.

On this matter, the source clarified that existing schools with Year Four DLP classes are supposed to continue those classes uninterrupted this year.

The source added that a circular was sent to state education departments stating that all schools will continue to be approved for the programme based on the original guidelines issued in 2015.

Schools must have written con sent of parents, enough qualified teachers and classrooms before they can apply to offer DLP.

Over 1,400 schools will be offering the programme to Year One to Year Six pupils, as well as Form One, Form Two and Form Three students this year.