Hope for 76 more Sabah schools
Published on: Thursday, October 13, 2016
Kota Kinabalu: Some 76 schools in Sabah are expected to be included in the next round of implementation of the Dual Language Programme (DLP) next year. State Education Director Datuk Maimunah Suhaibul (pic) said 14 schools have been approved for the DLP programme as of October this year. This is in addition to the 19 schools that were approved in the pilot batch this year.
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"A total of 23 schools are in the process of appealing and another 20 schools were proposed for the programme," said Maimunah, indicating that the numbers could change depending on the whether the schools fulfill the requirements. Under the DLP, schools would be given the option to teach science, mathematics, Information Technology and Design and Technology in English or Bahasa Malaysia. Deputy Education Minister Chong Sin Woon earlier announced that 841 schools were expected to implement the DLP, but that the numbers had yet to be finalised as there are also schools appealing for inclusion in the programme. The DLP made its way into Sabah schools on Jan. 4 this year with 12 secondary and seven primary schools were selected in its pilot implementation involving 300 schools nationwide.
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Among pre-requisites include the school scoring above the National Grade Average in the Bahasa Malaysia subject, with the selection decided at the Education Department level. The chairman of a missionary school board in Kota Kinabalu had questioned the selection process after finding out his school was excluded in the pilot batch.
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Similar concerns have been raised by a number of politicians. This was partly due to the school, La Salle, along with two others – St Michael's in Penampang and All Saints in Likas – being shockingly excluded despite English being one of the main languages used in these respective schools. In defence, the then Education Director Datuk Jame Alip said "La Salle did not meet the Bahasa Malaysia score, while St Michael's was late in submitting its application and All Saints never applied for the programme". However, officials of these three schools said the exclusion came as a shock and All Saints, in particular, disputed the official version that was attributed to that school.Under the 2016 Budget, RM35 million had been allocated to implement the DLP and the High Immersive Programme (HIP) as part of the government's "Uphold Bahasa Malaysia and Strengthen the English Language Policy." The "soft landing" programme for students studying science and mathematics in English following the scrapping of, the PPSMI (the Malay abbreviation for the Teaching of Science and Mathematics in English) in 2012 in favour of MBMMBI (Upholding the Malay Language and Strengthening the English Language) ends this year – meaning the two subjects will be taught in Bahasa Malaysia (BM) in Form One next year.Given this scenario, the introduction of the DLP as a pilot project in selected primary and secondary schools is seen as a lifeline for schools wishing to continue teaching science and mathematics in English.Parents who want their children who are entering Form One next year to be taught in English for the two subjects are watching this development with keen interest.According to a report in Sin Chew Daily, many secondary schools nationawide were flooded with calls from parents eager to find out whether these schools would teach science and mathematics in English, before enrolling their children.When the government scrapped PPSMI four years ago, barring any parental objections, primary schools were allowed to continue to teach science and mathematics in English under the "soft landing" programme.But the last batch of pupils covered by the "soft landing" programme were promoted to Form One this year. As such, starting from next year, schools not selected for the DLP will have to teach science and mathematics in BM.DLP allows for English to be fully used in the teaching and learning of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects.However, due to the strict conditions to be met for the DLP and the limited quota of 300 available, many schools wishing to join the pilot programme were shut out.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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