Sagah (second left) asks a teacher on feedback of the home-based learning which was the subject in this exhibition booth as he toured the exhibition space prior to officiating at the colloquium.
KUCHING (Feb 12): Minister of Education, Innovation and Talent Development Datuk Roland Sagah clarifies that Mandarin will be an elective subject for students at Yayasan Sarawak’s residential international school.
He said the five international schools of Yayasan Sarawak would be using English as the medium for the teaching and learning while Mandarin would be offered as elective subject.
“I wish to reiterate here that the medium will be in English, and Mandarin will be an elective subject. It is not compulsory as some people say.
“Because if it is compulsory, most of the students will have trouble because they had not learned Mandarin before. So, it is not correct to say that it is compulsory and I believe Yayasan Sarawak has corrected this.
“But I just wish to reiterate that English will be the language used. We also have Bahasa Malaysia. And Mandarin is an elective subject (for the students) since Mandarin is becoming more important in this region,” he said when officiating at the Serian District Education Office’s Colloquium on Research of Action for Teachers here yesterday.
Yayasan Sarawak issued a statement on Feb 10 saying that Mandarin would be an optional third language for students studying at Yayasan Sarawak’s residential international schools.
The foundation clarified that Mandarin would not be a compulsory subject as previously reported.
This was in response to a news report quoting Assistant Minister for Public Health, Housing and Local Government II Michael Tiang as saying the international schools run by Yayasan Sarawak would make Mandarin a compulsory subject for all students.
On a related matter, Sagah said Sarawak would continue with its efforts to make more Sarawakians master the English language and having good command of Bahasa Malaysia.
“This is because English is the language of science. If you look at any publication involving science and science-related subjects, most of them are in English. Even if it is done by a German or a French man, it will also be translated to English.
“Whether you like it or not, English is an international language. That is why the Sarawak government emphasises on having the dual language programme for schools in Sarawak where Mathematics and Science are taught in English.
“This will help to sharpen their English proficiency along the way,” he said.
It has been previously reported that the first of the five Yayasan Sarawak international schools, located at Petra Jaya in Kuching, will commence operations on March 1 this year.
The other four of such schools will be built at Mile 12 Kuching-Serian road, and one each in Sibu, Bintulu and Miri.
These schools, which will accommodate up to 500 students, will be offering English language-based Cambridge syllabus.
from Borneo Post Online https://bit.ly/3oIDYnF
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