Envoy assures US support of ETA programme
KUCHING: US ambassador to Malaysia Kamala Shirin Lakhdhir says young American graduates who are involved in English Teaching Assistance (ETA) programme in Malaysia, are not only here to teach but to share with local students their experiences of growing up in their own country.
“Our young graduates are willing to share not only their knowledge in the English language with the students here, but also their experiences about their lives, their home, their community and also the way they approach education and learning in the environment they live and grow up in,” she said.
“Their experiences can inspire young Malaysian students to go and experience the outside world before settling down to their profession back home,” she said at the press conference after she met and had dinner with the organisers and students of the Click! 6.0 programme, an intensive and action-packed social entrepreneurship camp for youths held at Penview Hotel on Friday.
She assured that the US would continue to support the ETA, a joint programme between the US and Malaysian government to help local students acquire proficiency in the English language.
On the social entrepreneurship camp Click!6.0 programme which was also funded by the US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Lakhdhir said she was very proud of the commitment shown by the organisers and students who participated in the camp.
“These students were so enthusiastic and they were very keen to learn the English language through various approaches under the programme,” she noted.
Lakhdhir said the programme was one of the approaches under the ETA programme which could strengthen the command of the English language among students.
The Click! 6.0 weekend camp from Apr 21- 23 was participated by 40 students and 16 ETA and local teachers from eight schools including one school from Sabah.
There are currently 15 young American graduates teaching in Sarawak under the ETA programme where they will spend one year in a secondary school here.
Also at the press conference were co-founder of LEAD Choo Choon Sian and US Embassy Public Affairs Counsellor Frank Whitaker.