Minister
in the Prime Minister's Department Idris Jala agrees that there is a
need for the government to implement some radical changes to the
education system to address the proficiency and communication skills of
students in English and Bahasa Malaysia.
In realising this, Idris said, the government launched the education blueprint to address the problem. The blueprint was launched by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak earlier this month.
Speaking at the International Law Conference organised by the Malaysian Bar in Kuala Lumpur today, he said the government was trying to resolve the problem by having English language teachers provided with proper courses on correct grammar usage.
"We have all of them (the English) teachers sit for the Cambridge English test. They are willing to take the test. If this is done in the United Kingdom, I think the teachers will go on strike.
"I cannot disclose to you how many passed or how many failed (the test), but we are working with the British Council to provide courses on the correct usage of grammar. These are the shifts that we are doing to the education system (to address the problem)," Idris said.
He said this in response to a question from Malaysian Bar president Lim Chee Wee on how the government was addressing the decline in language competency and communication among students, which he attributed to the probable decline in the standard of education.
Idris agreed that the fundamental thing to do for the education system was to address the decline in communication and to increase the zeal of the students for the acquisition of knowledge.
He urged the Malaysian Bar to assist the government in this area, "for what we have to develop is human talent that will contribute to the country.
"I can assure you the government is quite serious in wanting to improve on the quality of the English language and also Bahasa Malaysia."
Pilot project to rate police stations
On the other question regarding crime asked by Lim, Idris, who is responsible for the Government Transformation Programme (GTP), said the government and police have come up with a pilot project to rate police stations based on the successful effort to curb crime and solve cases.
He said the pilot project is being done in Selangor involving 256 police stations where they will be ranked.
“We will rank them on how they reduce the incidents of crime and solve cases,” he said.
Part of the programme, he said, is where members the public who lodge a police report can monitor the progress of the investigations.
He said if someone’s house is burgled and a report is lodged, the complainant can monitor the progress and know who is the investigating officer.
“This will put the police under a tremendous microscope it’s not just the investigating officer but also the police station’s job to catch the criminal and solve the crime. I think Malaysia is the only country which dares to do this (allow the public to monitor the progress of their reports).
The minister claimed that it had gathered feedback from Singapore, Hong Kong and had learnt from them, giving an assurance that the police are doing everything they can to help combat crime.
Idris said the public can also assess the police officers who served them by sending an SMS in ranking their performance.
He said such facilities are also available in the police stations for them to press buttons and rank the services.
So far, Idris said they have received 49,000 responses where 87 percent have rated the service they received highly, and this is good.
This, he added, has also been implemented in other enforcement agencies in Selangor and the Federal Territories like Immigration, the Kuala Lumpur City Hall and Putrajaya Corporation.
In realising this, Idris said, the government launched the education blueprint to address the problem. The blueprint was launched by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak earlier this month.
Speaking at the International Law Conference organised by the Malaysian Bar in Kuala Lumpur today, he said the government was trying to resolve the problem by having English language teachers provided with proper courses on correct grammar usage.
"We have all of them (the English) teachers sit for the Cambridge English test. They are willing to take the test. If this is done in the United Kingdom, I think the teachers will go on strike.
"I cannot disclose to you how many passed or how many failed (the test), but we are working with the British Council to provide courses on the correct usage of grammar. These are the shifts that we are doing to the education system (to address the problem)," Idris said.
He said this in response to a question from Malaysian Bar president Lim Chee Wee on how the government was addressing the decline in language competency and communication among students, which he attributed to the probable decline in the standard of education.
Idris agreed that the fundamental thing to do for the education system was to address the decline in communication and to increase the zeal of the students for the acquisition of knowledge.
He urged the Malaysian Bar to assist the government in this area, "for what we have to develop is human talent that will contribute to the country.
"I can assure you the government is quite serious in wanting to improve on the quality of the English language and also Bahasa Malaysia."
Pilot project to rate police stations
On the other question regarding crime asked by Lim, Idris, who is responsible for the Government Transformation Programme (GTP), said the government and police have come up with a pilot project to rate police stations based on the successful effort to curb crime and solve cases.
He said the pilot project is being done in Selangor involving 256 police stations where they will be ranked.
“We will rank them on how they reduce the incidents of crime and solve cases,” he said.
Part of the programme, he said, is where members the public who lodge a police report can monitor the progress of the investigations.
He said if someone’s house is burgled and a report is lodged, the complainant can monitor the progress and know who is the investigating officer.
“This will put the police under a tremendous microscope it’s not just the investigating officer but also the police station’s job to catch the criminal and solve the crime. I think Malaysia is the only country which dares to do this (allow the public to monitor the progress of their reports).
The minister claimed that it had gathered feedback from Singapore, Hong Kong and had learnt from them, giving an assurance that the police are doing everything they can to help combat crime.
Idris said the public can also assess the police officers who served them by sending an SMS in ranking their performance.
He said such facilities are also available in the police stations for them to press buttons and rank the services.
So far, Idris said they have received 49,000 responses where 87 percent have rated the service they received highly, and this is good.
This, he added, has also been implemented in other enforcement agencies in Selangor and the Federal Territories like Immigration, the Kuala Lumpur City Hall and Putrajaya Corporation.
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