Teachers should help students master different languages

BESUT: Teachers need to assist their students to master English and the main vernacular languages in this country, said Second Education Minister Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh.
He said the government hoped very much for teachers to play a more professional role in enabling their students to master the English, Mandarin and Tamil languages, besides Bahasa Melayu as the national language.
"The Education Ministry believes that teachers as individuals who help shape society could do this within the next few years with the various assistance available in schools."
Idris said this at the Besut district-level Teacher's Day celebration at Sekolah Menengah Imtiaz Besut in Bukit Keluang, here, today.
He cited Timur Leste, a new developing nation which was ahead of Malaysia in terms of its people's language proficiency as they could speak five languages due to its seriousness in this effort, aided by its school teachers.
Idris said 23,000 teachers would attend a course at the year-end to boost their teaching of the English language to benefit their students.
He said there were additional programmes such as the English Teaching Assistant (ETA) implemented with the involvement of 100 teachers from the United States, Native Speaker programme participated by 360 foreign teachers, and Teach for Malaysia being implemented in schools nationwide to improve mastery of the language.
Earlier, in his speech, Idris urged teachers to not only equip their students with knowledge but to also instil them with excellent conduct.
"The combination of knowledge and good conduct will surely produce excellent individuals in various fields," he said. – Bernama