Teo: MUET a must for non-English language option teachers

TAIPING: Non-English language option teachers have to sit for the Malaysian University English Test (MUET) – a qualification they must have to teach the language.

Deputy Education Minister Teo Nie Ching said the move was necessary to allow such teachers, apart from the minimum C1 qualification they were required to have from the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) to teach the language.

She said the move was to enable such teachers who had other subject options to upskill themselves to teach the English language.

“This is a government effort to ensure that English teachers are proficient in the language.

“It is the government’s desire to produce teachers who have a good command of the English language.

“The government is also willing to give practical and online training to enhance the mastery of English,” she told a press conference after a working visit to SMK Darul Ridwan near here yesterday.

Teo said the ministry could retrain existing English teachers to improve their language skills.

She said this in response to a statement by National Union of the Teaching Profession secretary-general Harry Tan, who disagreed with the ministry’s directive requiring non-English language option teachers to sit for MUET.

Tan had also urged Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik to intervene in the matter.

Incidentally, Tan had earlier asked the ministry to look into a major issue affecting schools – the lack of English-language teachers and using non-English language option teachers to teach the language.

The directive requiring non-English language option teachers to sit for MUET was to review their English proficiency level and in line with the requirements set out in the Malaysia Education Blueprint 20132025.