Rope in ex-teachers to bolster Sarawak’s policy on English, Adenan told

KUCHING, Nov 25 — Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem should allocate funds to hire retired English language teachers to raise the proficiency of the language and reinforce his administration’s commitment towards the language, said Sarawak PKR chief Baru Bian.

He said this was the practical approach to help the students master the language, in line with the state government’s endorsement of English as one of Sarawak’s official tongues.

“These teachers have years of experiences specialising in teaching English, so, I call on the chief minister to re-engage them with their salaries and allowances to be borne by the State government,” the Ba’kelalan state lawmaker told reporters today.

“We have to start somewhere; otherwise, the English language policy announced by the chief minister last week is just a mere talk only,” he said, in reference to Adenan’s announcement on the adoption of English as an official language, apart from Bahasa Malaysia, in the State government administration.

Baru also asked the state government to hire English language teachers from the United Kingdom, United States and other English-speaking countries to meet the shortage of English teachers in the State.

“Perhaps, the state government should also make it compulsory for kindergartens to teach English as a subject,” he said, adding these kindergartens should receive funds from the State government.

Baru said English has always been Sarawak’s official language as the National Language Act 1963/1967 has not been approved by an enactment by the Sarawak State Assembly and hence its provisions do not apply here.

“Therefore it is not mandatory that Bahasa Malaysia should be the only language used in our government departments and ministries, even for purposes of the Federal Government,” he said, clarifying that he is not against the adoption of Bahasa Malaysia as the national language.

At the state civil service day gathering on November 18, Adenan announced the adoption of English as one of the official languages in the state government administration.

He has come in for criticism over the move, but insisted his decision was based on practical reasons and that shunning English would cause the state to be at a disadvantage.