Roundtable aims to address decline in English proficiency
SIBU: The Sarawak Bumiputera Teachers Union ( KGBS) has proposed for a roundtable discussion to be held towards identifying the factors that can influence students’ performance in the English Language subject so that intervening measures can be administered to stop the slide.
KGBS president Ahmad Malie made this suggestion in response to the recent disclosure by Welfare, Women and Community Wellbeing Minister Datuk Fatimah Abdullah, who said the lower percentage of passes in the English Language in Sarawak versus the national level performance in last year’s Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia ( SPM) examination was worrying and must be addressed immediately.
Fatimah reportedly said that last year, only 12.7 per cent of the candidates in Sarawak obtained
So long that the efforts being suggested later are friendly to teachers, KGBS will always support (it) for the good of Sarawakians.
at least ‘A-’ against 14.3 per cent of SPM candidates at the national level.
“So long that the efforts being suggested later are friendly to teachers, KGBS will always support (it) for the good of Sarawakians,” Ahmad said yesterday.
He said in principle, KGBS fully supported the call by Fatimah that the issue be tackled promptly.
He also noted that Fatimah had expressed her concern over the said results.
“As a teachers union that places emphasis on the progress and achievement of students, naturally, the excellent results of students are very important. But we need to remember that there are other factors that have allowed this (the drop in performance) to happen.”
Nevertheless, KGBS was proud and confident that the spirit and hard work of teachers in Sarawak had always been at the highest level, he said.
According to Ahmad, the teachers have been carrying out their duties diligently.
However, among possible factors behind the decline are individual differences between students as well as overall differences between each cohort.
“In this regard, these two factors cannot be sidelined in our efforts to make the comparison in particular, with regard to students’ achievement in public examinations,” Ahmad noted.
Adding on, he said KGBS did not want these factors to become polemic in tackling the issue of students’ performance.
“To KGBS, we abide by whatever call by the responsible party with regard to measures in dealing with the issue and raising the students’ achievement in certain subjects — so long that it does not bring about additional burden to the teachers concerned.”
Ahmad Malie, KGBS president