KUALA LUMPUR: Schools must explain to parents and guardians on the suitability of students to participate in the Dual Language Programme (DLP).
Deputy Education Minister Teo Nie Ching said that despite the ministry’s study showing that not all students were suitable for the programme, some parents and guardians still wished to enroll such students in DLP.
She cautioned that parents and guardians need to be careful in deciding whether to enrol students in such programme in order to prevent the students from being unnecessarily pressured.
“I feel that the schools should be responsible in explaining the benefits and advantages of DLP to parents. Even though it is an option it does not mean it is suitable for all students.
“There are parents who wish so much for their children to enrol in DLP but in the end, the students feel pressured. I think that schools need to explain to parents and guardians on whether their children are suited for DLP,” she said at the Dewan Rakyat today.
Teo was answering a supplementary question from Datuk Dr Noraini Ahmad (BN-Umno-Parit Sulong) on the effectiveness of DLP for students.
Currently, there are 22,960 primary and secondary students enrolled in DLP.
Meanwhile in reply to Noraini’s main question on the impact of DLP on participating schools, Teo said the programme led to improvement in the pupils’ mastery of the English language since its implementation in 2016.
She said that Phase 1 of the ministry’s study showed that 36.28 per cent of primary school pupils and 46.44 per cent of secondary school students showed an increase in their results for English language exams from 2016 to 2017.
“The result of the comparison (for Phase 2 of the study which compared English language result for mid-2017 and final exam results at end 2017) found that around 55.82 per cent of primary school pupils and 57.23 per cent of secondary school students showed an increase in the English language,” she said.
Teo added that the ministry’s more comprehensive impact study of DLP over its effectiveness would be known by January.