Previous govt did not make efforts to increase number of DLP teachers despite demand, says PKR veep

JOHOR BARU: There was a systemic failure by the previous government in the implementation of the Dual Language Programme (DLP), says K. Saraswathy.

The PKR vice-president said that despite the number of students taking up the programme in the primary level, especially among Tamil schools, efforts were not taken by the previous government to increase the number of teachers in secondary schools.

"The DLP was not a policy decision, it was just a programme to see how students performed in order to pick it up as a policy at a later stage.

"The programme had received good response from Tamil schools but the creation of teachers did not take place.

"There must have been a systemic failure by the previous government. When they see that there are many DLP classes in the primary school level, they should have made more teachers available at the secondary level," she said.

Saraswathy said this to the media when met after officiating at the Johor Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (JICCI) annual meeting at a hotel here in Johor Baru.

Saraswathy added that she would convey the concerns of parents with regards to the DLP issue to Education Minister Fadhlina Siddiq.

"The issue has been raised to me during my previous visit to Johor recently as well. I have yet to discuss with the Education Minister on this matter but I will do so soon.

"I will try to convince her to allow the programme to be carried out as it was but it is at her discretion," she said, adding that the current government is also facing challenges in addressing the issue.

She said this when asked to comment further about the DLP issue in Johor.

During a question and answer session at the meeting earlier, Saraswathy fielded a question from a concerned parent about the DLP issue.

In March, The Star reported that hundreds of students from five Tamil schools in Johor were in limbo after they were told that the DLP will only be available in one class for each school starting this year.

In previous years, the DLP, where students are taught Science and Mathematics in English, were available for all students in the five schools – SJK(T) Taman Tun Aminah, SJK(T) Ladang Rini, SJK(T) Jalan Yahya Awal and SJK(T) Masai here as well as SJK(T) Jalan Haji Manan in Kluang.