PETALING JAYA: An activist group has urged the government to sharpen its focus on the Dual Language Programme (DLP) in the interest of boosting science, technology, engineering and mathematics education.
Parent Action Group for Education (PAGE) president Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim said there should be an allocation in Budget 2023 for the training of teachers to teach science and mathematics in both English and Malay.
“The education ministry made a promise to train maths and science teachers to be competent in both languages,” she said. “If this had been done, there would have been a marked increase in DLP schools.
“The ministry’s silence on the issue is deafening.
“There must be continued focus to scale up the number of schools offering DLP.”
The DLP has met setbacks since it was introduced in 2016 to offer pupils a choice of learning certain subjects in English. The programme is run in selected schools, and it is said that places are limited and there is a shortage of qualified teachers.
Noor Azimah also said the government should budget for inquiry-based science education to ensure teachers were continually trained so that the teaching would be hands-on, enjoyable and effective.
The head of another organisation of parents said allocations were already sufficient for the education sector, but the main issue schools were facing was bureaucratic red tape.
Mak Chee Kin of the Melaka Action Group for Parents in Education said schools had to submit working papers to the education department to be forwarded to the education ministry.
“Many schools do not receive the allocation although they submit the paperwork,” he said. “The ministry should cut down on bureaucracy and channel the allocations directly to schools.”
He said education department scrutiny should apply only to projects costing RM50,000 and more.
National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) secretary-general Fouzi Singon said the union hoped the budget would focus on neglected school infrastructure.
He suggested that funds be increased for school maintenance to ensure the comfort and safety of staff and students.
“NUTP also hopes there will be increased financial assistance for food, transportation and teaching aids,” he said.
Budget 2023 will be tabled on Oct 7. - FMT
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