Evidence of problems pertaining to the researched area.

PROB 1: http://www.thestar.com.my/news/education/2015/08/30/english-is-not-animpossible-dream/
This is another example of a remedial programme carried out by the ministry that is
reaching its third cohort this year. The Professional Upskilling of English Language
Teachers (Pro-ELT) is a professional upskilling of English language teachers
programme. So far the ministry has done three cohorts and trained a total of 15,500
teachers in this programme.

Based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR),

76.4% of teachers improved one band. These remedial measures are slowly but
surely showing results.

The fourth cohort has already begun in June this year with 7,000 teachers taking
part and in total 22,500 English teachers would have benefited from this
programme.

However its important to remember that although the above measure is a step in
overcoming the problem, almost a third of teachers have not yet been trained and
met the minimum requirement under the CEFR band system.

This being the situation, the ministry has decided to postpone its ruling on the SPM
compulsory pass in English. It wouldnt be fair if 30% of students do not have a
teacher who is proficient enough to ensure an effective learning and teaching
process takes place.

However, the policy is earmarked to start in 2017, which is actually a year off the
previously determined date.
PROB 2: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/english-a-failingsubject/2277498.html
20 NOV 2015
Two years ago, Malaysia announced plans making it a must for all students to pass
English as a subject in a major high school examination by 2016.

But these plans were postponed after the country's Education Ministry tested out
what would happen if they did.

"If English was a compulsory subject this year, 2015, we would have had about 25
per cent of the students failing SPM, said Deputy Education Minister P
Kamalanathan.

We have about 400,000 students sitting for the examination. 25 per cent rate
failure would give us about 100,000 of students not being able to get certificates.
That's a concern."
"Today we want individuals who have high self-confidence, who can communicate, especially in
English. Like it or not, English is a prerequisite in this world. So we cannot be emotional
anymore, we cannot feel that we don't need to learn English, said Prime Minister Najib Razak.
Malaysia said it would also be seeking public feedback for ideas on how to increase
English standards in the nation. In the meantime, the plan to have students achieve
a passing mark in the subject remains on hold.
PROB 3: http://www.thesundaily.my/news/1737710
23/3/16
15,000 English teachers 'not ready' to teach the subject
This is the the main reason for the Education Ministry's delay in implementing a
compulsory pass for English in the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination,
theSun learnt.

Confirming this, Deputy Education Minister Datuk P. Kamalanathan said it would be

unfair to implement the policy on the compulsory pass in SPM English when the
teachers themselves are not proficient.

Kamalanathan said if the policy had come into place last year, between 25% and
30% of the students would have failed in English and not obtained a certificate for
SPM.

"It is not because the teachers are not good but they need more assistance, their
proficiency needs to be strengthened and it is unfair to expect them to change their
teaching language overnight to a language they are not yet a holistic expert in.

Kamalanathan said the ministry aims to upgrade these 15,000 English teachers
through its training programmes that have been going on since 2013.

"They are not English option teachers; they are trained to teach other subjects," he
said.

For example, a teacher's teaching option may be Mathematics and Science but
when he or she goes to a school, they may already have enough Mathematics
teachers but need English teachers.

Stressing that these 15,000 are just a part of the 60,000-odd English teachers
nationwide, Kamalanathan said more than 20,000 of them are proficient and
perfectly equipped to teach the language, befitting international standards.

The ministry aims to get the 15,000 teachers into at least the C1 category through
training by selected English institutions like the British Council.

With about 5,000 teachers trained yearly under this programme, the ministry will be
able to upgrade the 15,000 teachers, who are in A1 and A2 category, to at least C1.
Last week, Education Minister Datuk Seri Mahdzhir Khalid, in a parliamentary
written reply, said the policy for a compulsory pass in English for SPM in 2016 was
postponed because based on data and a special simulation study based on the SPM
results from 2011 to 2014 both teachers and students were not prepared for it.
PROB 4: http://news.asiaone.com/news/malaysia/english-level-malaysia-not-highyet-say-teachers
30/3/15
English level in Malaysia not that high yet, say teachers
PETALING JAYA - Malaysia is still some way off before it can reach an internationally
accepted level of English proficiency, according to the Malaysian English Language
Teaching Association (Melta).

Referring to Deputy Education Minister P. Kamalanathan's comments that

Malaysians' grasp of the English language was better than Singaporeans, Melta
president Assoc Prof Dr Ganakumaran Subramaniam said statistics provided in the
Malaysian Education Blueprint showed otherwise.
Other documents released by the ministry and government agencies also showed
the proficiency level was not there yet, he said.

Universiti Malaya lecturer Assoc Prof Dr Sharmini Patricia Gabriel concurred, saying
lecturers had found they could not teach at the level they used to.

"We find that we are not able to teach students critically and creatively like we used
to, as their command of the language is limited.

"I have been lecturing since 1990 and I definitely see students coming in with lower
proficiency," said Dr Sharmini, who teaches English Literature.

She also doubted Kamalanathan's comparison, saying the approach of both

countries towards the language made all the difference.

"Singapore uses English as one of its official languages. Here in Malaysia, it is

taught as the second or foreign language. People still look at it as an alien
language," she said.

PROB 4: https://dapmalaysia.org/en/statements/2015/03/29/20513/
If our English proficiency is the best in Asia, why do all the facts say otherwise?
Last year, the Wall Street Journal highlighted the poor English skills amongst our
graduates by quoting a 2011 study by the Malaysian Employers Federation, which
found that 60 per cent of companies surveyed stated that the main reason
applicants failed their interviews was due to their low command of English.
The same article goes on to cite the results of the Malaysian University English Test
(MUET) for March and July last year, which saw only two out of around 100,000
candidates scoring band 6 or very good. While 10,000 candidates scored good
(band 5) or competent (band 4), the other 90,000 candidates received bands
ranging from 1 to 3, representing modest, limited and extremely limited.
If 90 per cent of our pre-university students cannot score better than modest in
their MUET, how is it even possible that our command of English could be said to be
the best in Asia?
If our English is so good, why spend so much to fix it?

The irony of it all is that the government is very well aware of the deteriorating
standard of English in our country. It is for this very reason that the ministry has
embarked on a series of costly initiatives to improve the teaching of English, such
as the Upholding Bahasa Malaysia and Strengthening English (MBMMBI)
programme, the Native English-speaking Mentor Programme (PPJBI or Program

Penutur Jati Bahasa Inggeris) and the English Language Proficiency Teaching
(ProELT) programme. All these programmes have cost the government more than a
billion ringgit over the last five years.

Take, for example, the PPJBI, which saw the Ministry spending RM270 million to hire
360 foreign native English speakers as mentors to train our local primary school
English teachers. Despite questionable results after three years of implementation,
such as poorer performance in the UPSR English paper, this programme was
renewed at a cost of RM184.4 million for two years from 1 October 2013 to 30
September 2015.

Meanwhile, the Ministry spends more than RM200 million annually on MBMMBI since
it was launched in 2010. This amounts to more than RM1 billion over the last five
years.

If our level of English is indeed the best in Asia, then why do all the facts,
including the governments own actions, say otherwise? Instead of making empty
boasts based on questionable sources, our education ministers should concentrate
on improving our quality of education.

PROB 5: http://www.malaysiandigest.com/news/553456-world-class-educationmalaysia-ranked-52nd-again-in-global-education-ratings.html
13/3/15
KUALA LUMPUR The biggest global ranking on education quality has just been
published, but while the top five spots in the world is dominated by Asian countries
spearheaded by Singapore our beloved Malaysia is languishing in a dismal
position at 52 out of 72 countries.

The rankings, conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and

Development (OECD) think tank, lists down 76 countries and has Singapore in first
place, followed by Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan.

During the 2012 PISA rankings released two years ago, Malaysia was ranked 52nd
out of 65 countries and performed the second worst in Southeast Asia behind the
likes of Vietnam and Thailand.
Last year after the rankings were released, Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar
heavily criticised the Education Ministry and called for a reform on the countrys
education system.

I think our ministers also suffer from the same poor reading skills because I can see
no developed country below Malaysia in the 2012 PISA ranking, she said.

Cosmetic transformations alone will not prepare our children to compete

internationally. We must be brave and stop mixing politics into the education
system, she added.

Pandan MP RAfizi Ramli also agreed with Izzah, asking: How does Vietnam, with
limited resources, lesser infrastructure and an economy that is smaller than
Malaysias, can have an education system that surpasses ours?

In the new OECD ranking, Vietnam is placed at the 12th position, just like other
Asian countries who are rated highly on the list , with the exception of Malaysia.

If you go to an Asian classroom youll find teachers who expect every student to
succeed. Theres a lot of rigour, a lot of focus and coherence, says Schleicher.

These countries are also very good at attracting the most talented teachers in the
most challenging classrooms, so that every student has access to excellent
teachers, he added.
Well, Schleicher, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD) education director gives us something to think about by saying: Todays 15
year-olds with poor problem-solving skills will become tomorrows adults struggling
to find or keep a good job.

He goes on to add: Poor education policies and practices leave many countries in
what amounts to a permanent state of economic recession.

Recently the Sultan of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar called for the country to
follow Singapores education system by using English as a medium of instruction.

Singapores system has proven to be successful (it has) helped to unite the races
(there), he said.

With Singapore coming out on top of the recent OECD rankings, this might actually
prove his point!