Education Minister must support DLP

WE refer to The Star’s Feb 13 front page headline “Paths to better English” and the accompanying reports, “Swift reforms for stronger English” and “Go beyond the classroom in cultivating love for English language”.

Since our inception in 2008, PAGE’s (Parent Action Group for Education) focus has never wavered from the teaching of the English language (the language of knowledge), teaching of mathematics and the sciences in English, STEM education, the quality of teachers needed to fulfil such outcomes, and the quality of education overall.

Sarawak is well underway with a solid plan to achieve the above under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 with demands of an improved UPSR and PT3, and its insistence on retaining the Dual Language Programme (DLP). Sabah has been bolder of late, albeit unconvincingly and with less gusto, but is adamant nonetheless.

And only recently has Johor joined the fray, as the state government appears to have taken English language education in its own hands.

Parents in Peninsular Malaysia are bewildered as to how Sarawak, Sabah and now Johor are able to disagree with Putrajaya, as those who want DLP for their children instead are confronted with the police and Special Branch upon the instruction of school principals.

Establish a Malaysian identity rather than Putrajaya imposing one dominant culture on us. We are, after all, Malaysians, and diversity is our strength.

Parents want to know how the English Language Teaching Centre, an agency under the Education Ministry responsible for English language proficiency, will be conducting its many ongoing initiatives, such as the Highly Immersive Programme (HIP), the Professional Upskilling of English Language Teachers (Pro-ELT), the English Language Enhancement in Schools Programme (PPKBIS), and DLP, which requires a substantial amount of funding.

Parents want to know specifically how DLP is going to be expanded in terms of the number of schools, new schools, number of students and number of classes. The Education Minister herself has guaranteed that there is an adequate number of science and mathematics teachers to teach these subjects in English.

Parents in primary and secondary schools are aghast that the number of DLP classes has been reduced when there is a demand for more. These are young, progressive parents who are disappointed with principals and school leaders who are complacent, lack dynamism and exhibit a backward attitude towards economic growth, vision and purpose of education.

The dangling carrot should be lucrative scholarships that are not impossible to attain.

PAGE urges Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek to reconsider her latest guidelines on DLP dated March 19, 2024, where Clause 12.2.8 specifically states that there must be one mandatory non-DLP class. If principals foresee that students may have challenges with Bahasa Melayu, they should arrange for more immersion classes rather than block their access to the programme.

The most important element is who is monitoring and ensuring that these programmes are supported or, in the case of DLP, sabotaged or discouraged. The Education Minister should not cannibalise the programmes already set in place by her ministry with the excuse that there are inadequate resources or it is someone else’s legacy.

DATIN NOOR AZIMAH ABDUL RAHIM

Chairperson

Parent Action Group for Education (PAGE)