Tuesday January 23, 2007
Many still refusing to teach in English
PETALING JAYA: The English language test for Mathematics and Science teachers is a timely move as many are still refusing to use the language to teach.
Said a teacher/trainer, who declined to be named: “There are three main reasons why teachers are still not teaching Maths and Science in English: lack of confidence, the hope that the policy will revert to Bahasa Malaysia and the fact that the exams are in both languages.”
This is despite the fact that the ETeMS (English for the Teaching of Maths and Science) programme has entered its fifth year of implementation.
While those fluent in the language are not worried over the one-off evaluation, teachers who are reluctant to make the change from Bahasa Malaysia to English will now have to brush up on their English.
Said a senior Biology teacher: “This has put some teachers on their toes because they are afraid of failing.
“It would be quite shameful if you failed because you would have to go for the refresher course.” She added that while no circular had yet been received from the Education Ministry, her school's Maths and Science panel head was informed during a meeting at the Petaling District Education Office recently that teachers in the district would sit for the test on Feb 10.
The Ministry's teacher training division director Wan Mustama Wan Abdul Hayat said on Sunday that starting next month, thousands of teachers would be tested to see if they could teach the two crucial subjects competently in English.
Besides Selangor, the evaluation, which will have a written component, an assessment of listening skills and multiple-choice answers for the grammar section, will beheld next month in Kuala Lumpur, Kelantan, Kedah and Terengganu.
While only teachers from selected primary and secondary schools would be initially involved, all 60,000 Maths and Science teachers are expected to be tested eventually.
Teachers who fail the test would have to attend refresher courses in the teaching of Maths and Science in English.
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