IN MY conversations with youths and teachers across Malaysia, one concern is consistently brought up: the level of English proficiency of our students. I have heard of cases where Form 5 students are incapable of writing a single sentence in English. I have heard of cases where a student, sitting the SPM exam, asks the teacher whether she can translate the English question back into Bahasa Malaysia. The level of English proficiency amongst our students should be taken seriously if we want to be a top 20 economy by 2050.
Just last week, I had the privilege of organising a TN50x session focused on “Teaching English in Malaysia; Challenges and Solutions.” Numerous non-profit organisations attended. The goal was to go beyond providing a platform where attendees could share their hopes and concerns about the way English was being taught in Malaysia. We wanted to showcase that there were a lot of NGOs in Malaysia with the expertise to take us to high English proficiency levels. Our message that night was that together, with NGOs united and with the government, the problem will not seem so vast.