ARTICLE 6 Title Author Source 2011/07/06 SEREMBAN: Qualified and capable English teachers will be made part of the

special mobile teachers' group to be sent out to specific schools which need their services, said Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin. Muhyiddin, who is also education minister, said his ministry was studying the feasibility of setting up mobile English and mentor teacher groups to enhance the Upholding the Malay Language and Strengthening the Command of English (MBMMBI) policy. He said this in his speech, which was read by his deputy, Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong at the English Language Teaching Centre (ELTC) - Teachers Education Division (TED) conference yesterday. The MBMMBI was introduced to replace the Teaching and Learning of Science and Mathematics in English (PPSMI) from next year, after it was found that the policy failed to achieve its objective of raising students' proficiency in English, which affected their performance in the two subjects, especially among rural students. Muhyiddin said the placement of new English teachers this year, would be done following more stringent regulations based on how urgent the subject teachers were needed at a particular school. Also, to ensure the success of the MBMMBI policy, he said the ministry was offering three year contracts to 600 retired English teachers, 168 of whom had already begun teaching. He said the ministry would also build English labs at 700 schools throughout the country following the success of the pilot project at 20 schools last year. "A total 12,000 English teachers are undergoing re-training programmes to enhance their teaching skills, with another 10,000 expected to begin the programme this year." Meanwhile, Wee, at a press conference later, said his ministry was looking at long term solutions to overcome the shortage of teachers to replace those on maternity leave at schools nationwide. : English labs for 700 schools : Patrick Sennyah : http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/9cikgu/Article/

"This is a big problem and we need to find a solution to ensure there are no disruptions in classes. "Among the major problems identified so far is the lack of funds for replacement teachers and we are in the process of applying to the Finance Ministry to increase our allocations," he added.