English teachers from India won't fix problem

YOURSAY ‘Soon everybody will write like S Thayaparan or Terence Netto and talk like that correct, correct, correct lawyer, so how?'

Malaysia keen to recruit English teachers from India

Ksn: Yes, this is a step in the right direction. Include pure mathematics and science subjects teachers for recruitment as well.

I am sure many will remember that in the 50s, 60s and 70s most of our teachers in these subjects were Indians, many of them from India. They did a great job.

Upgrade the syllabi of these subjects as well. Let us stop recruiting, at the same time, faceless, listless teachers, to use former Singapore prime minister Lee Kuan Yew's words.

Gandhi: Ksn, as you said this is the most sensible step that has been taken to arrest the deterioration of the standard in English language.

India exports English to the English-speaking countries in the world. The private schools in India produce students whose English is impeccable.

I know for certain that English teachers in India are the best. Their grammar is faultless. Testimony to this is there are many authors who have won coveted international prizes like Vikram Seth, Arundati Roy, etc.

In United States and United Kingdom, a lot of Indians are well-placed in the top positions because of their proficiency in English.

Malaysia can never go wrong by bringing in Indian English teachers. I'm afraid that they may not be well-paid. At last, a right step taken.

Bharat Menon: Just teaching Maths and Science in English will not improve the quality of English, both spoken and written.

The answer lies in reintroducing English-medium national schools, like in the good old days. If we can have Malay, Chinese and Tamil medium schools, why not also English? Of course, this is too much to hope for with the mindset of the present administration.

Hence, accept the fact that the general Malaysian standard of English will remain low forever. With the eventual demise of the old-school generation, it will only get worse.

It's only the privileged class who can afford the very high fees to attend private/international schools can have the benefit of a good English education.

Ra2012: Bringing in foreign teachers to teach English to address the poor quality of English in this country is not going to solve our dilemma.

What needs to be done is concerted action on the part of the government in collaboration with the private sector to study in-depth the state of English today, what needs to be done to improve the standard, not only in schools, but in the government machinery as well as in private sector; and the necessary recommendations, one of which could be sourcing expertise from overseas.

Approaching the US or India is not the solution. We have to start looking inwards and within first.

DontPlayGod: Those overseas students, including my daughter, knows how difficult it is to understand the English accent of Indian lecturers, and here we have our government mulling recruiting teachers from India.

Why don't we get teachers from Singapore instead, or those who are retired and still active and healthy?

T Sundram: Ourrr English betterrrr than theirrrrs.

Mirror On The Wall: You mean there are not enough locals, especially those who have retired, to teach English?

Teaching a language is also a cultural experience and I am not sure if the cultural experience of India or for that matter any western nation is compatible with our myopic view of the world?

Bash: Our standard of English was among the best till 1980. Who then became the education ministers and decimated the teaching of this lingo?

To learn, we must change the mindset first. Many a times, some people run down foreign languages for political and jingoistic purposes.

Artchan: We were good and respected at one time. Then some monkey came and messed it up.

"If you speak or learn English, you are not a nationalist," they say. Then came the ‘ketuanan' thing and the idiot educators.

Does anyone think the 75 American English teachers and the soon-to-come Indian teachers will be able to do anything? PM Najib Abdul Razak must be dreaming or in Wonderland.

Onyourtoes: Soon everybody will write like Malaysiakini's S Thayaparan or Terence Netto and talk like that 'correct, correct, correct' lawyer, so how?

Jean Pierre: ‘I Spent 30 Minutes with the PM of India and All I Got Were English Teachers', reads my new T-shirt. - Malaysiakini