54 more Sabah schools on DLP list
Published on: Wednesday, January 04, 2017
Kota Kinabalu: The standard of English among Sabah students appears set for a marked improvement with the Dual Language Programme (DLP) being expanded to 54 more schools for the 2017 school term which began Tuesday. State Education Director Datuk Maimunah Suhaibul (pic) said 31 secondary schools and 23 primary schools were selected for the programme this year. This brings the number to 73 schools, including 19 schools in the pilot batch in the 2016 school term. ADVERTISEMENT "The programme is now more open in terms of its adoption, but the schools must apply and meet requirements first," she said, during her visit to SM All Saints here. SM All Saints which has consistently achieved high scores, was shockingly left out of the programme at its implementation two years ago. The school had said then that it was not informed. Maimunah only took over as Director last year. Two other schools whose exclusion in the first round incurred the wrath of parents – La Salle Kota Kinabalu and SMK St Michael Penampang – were included this time round.Under the DLP, schools are given the option to teach Science, Mathematics, Information Technology and Design and Technology in English or Bahasa Malaysia.ADVERTISEMENT The requirements include, the school needing to have Parents and Teachers Association (PTA) nod.According to an Education Department officer, Sekolah Menengah Agama Kota Kinabalu, which is one of the selected schools, may postpone the implementation as it had yet to receive the PTA's approval.
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Among others, the school also needs to have the facilities, manpower and the passing Bahasa Malaysia grades.Maimunah said this year 27,626 pre-schoolers, 26,387 Year 1 pupils and 13,377 Form 1 students had registered for school to date, adding that the number may increase. She had briefed all the district education officers on Monday to ensure that all students are adequately supplied with a chair, a table and a complete set of textbooks. "Overall the schools have been well prepared for the start of the schooling session and there were barely any students roaming around when lessons started," said Maimunah, adding that no schools were also closed due to serious disasters or incidences. SK Rundum and SK Sumambu in Tenom, which were recently affectedly by a mudslide, also managed to clean-up in time for the first day of school.Towards this end, she said an action committee comprising representatives from the Education Department and other agencies was set up in October last year to deal with natural disasters like flooding. The committee is on alert for eventualities like flooding and storms especially in areas where such disasters have struck like Beaufort, Tenom, Kudat and Tawau, she said. Maimunah also said life jackets had been provided to all teachers who had to travel by boat to their respective schools. An allocation of more than RM200,000 has been made by the Education Ministry for the purpose of purchasing the life-saving equipment. This followed the drowning of a teacher and the headmaster of SK Mantanani after their boat capsized in Kota Belud, last August. "Since last month, we have been giving out the jackets to teachers who are stationed at schools in the islands, or those who have to travel via boat to reach school," she said. Maimunah also revealed that local teachers serving at primary schools now stood at 82.4 per cent, or 21,406, and 75.9 per cent, or 11,221 at secondary schools and that the department will continue to appoint more local teachers until the goal is met. She said the target of reaching 90 per cent local teachers in Sabah, under the 90:10 initiative, is achievable, adding that an additional 460 plus new primary school teachers will receive their posting this year. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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"In terms of teaching manpower, the State has enough teachers in primary schools but there is still a bit of shortage in English and Pendidikan Islam teachers in secondary schools. "However, teachers are still sufficient for the operation of schools early in the year," she said.