KOTA BELUD: Datuk Ewon Benedick will reach out to his counterpart at Education Ministry and Higher Education Ministry to deliberate on Kadazandusun language (BKD) issues at teaching institutes.
The Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister said he was seeking the discussion with Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek and Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin to find solutions to challenges faced by teachers teaching the subject, as well as how to further empower the teaching of the language.
The Penampang MP and Kadamaian assemblyman said the ethnic language field not being listed among the teacher candidates being recruited for 2023 in teaching institutes, has created some concerns among BKD teachers.
If BKD subject was no longer being offered in teaching institutes, then the programme should be empowered at higher learning institutions, as at present it is only being offered as a minor and elective subject, Benedick stressed.
“We will discuss with the relevant ministers so that the Kadazandusun language programme is enhanced at tertiary level like at Universiti Perguruan Sultan Idris (UPSI).
“The BKD programme must be empowered to cater demands not only to supply trained teachers who are competent in Kadazandusun language, but also to fill workforce in fields like reporting, radio emcees, television, tourist guides and lecturers.
“Besides that, the ethnic language field being offered would also expand research in terms of language, culture and literature (of this language),” he said during the Kota Belud district level BKD carnival on Friday (July 14).
On the carnival, Benedick believed that such events will help in safeguarding the language and culture of Kadazandusun so that they will not go extinct in future.
He expressed hope that the carnival organisation is further expanded next year to allow more participation from primary and secondary schools that have Kadazandusun teaching and learning in classes.
The two-day carnival held at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Narinang hall, included over 1,000 pupils and students from around the district, where it returned for the first time after the Covid-19 pandemic hit.
Benedick also urged that programmes outside classes involving the Kadazandusun language be organized to ensure the younger generation has more deeper comprehension beyond the language and more exposure to the community culture.
“I hope both teachers and parents would work together hand in hand to ensure the language and culture of our ethnic group could be passed on to the future generations,” he stressed.
He also urged other ethnic associations to organise their own carnivals, the way the BKD Carnival was organized by Kadazandusun language teachers council.
