Need for state intervention to improve students' English standard: Abang Johari

KUCHING: There is a need for state intervention to improve the standard of English among students in Sarawak, said Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg (pix).
Despite the many initiatives of the Ministry of Education to improve the standard of English among students in schools, he said, the general consensus of the public, especially employers, was that it was declining.
He said that one of the constraints faced by the Sarawak Education Department was that the budget allocated was often insufficient because of the wide geographic distribution of schools and the remote location of many of these schools in the state.
"The state government can intervene and support the Education Department in critical areas such as training of teachers not only to be more proficient in the language but also to become more creative and innovative; provide teaching and learning resources and support extra-curricular activities that encourage students to use the language such as debates, drama, elocution contests, and essay competitions," he said.
Abang Johari said this when officiating the Sarawak English Language Education Symposium 'Connecting the Dots: Curriculum, Classroom and Community' (SELES) 2017 here today.
Also present were Minister of Education, Science, and Technological Research Sarawak Datuk Seri Michael Manyin Jawong and Assistant Minister Dr Annuar Rapa'ee.
Abang Johari further said, SELES 2017 was an example of what the state could do to assist the department.
"As stated by Minister of Education, Science, and Technological Research Sarawak (Manyin), the outcome of this symposium will help us to chart our programmes and initiatives.
"I also sincerely hope that the deliberations in this symposium will arouse interest, inspire and empower the participants of this symposium to become more passionate about their roles and bring significant improvements in the proficiency of our students in English," he said.
SELES 2017 is part of the State Ministry of Education, Science, and Technological Research's commitment to develop and enhance English Language education in the state. — Bernama