Anwar hits out at plans to make passing of English compulsory

(MM) – Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim said that the time is not right to make passing of English in public examinations compulsory for students.

A Malaysiakini report cited Anwar (picture) as saying that the government must make the necessary facilities available before that could happen.

The PKR advisor stated that the lack of facilities and shortage in teachers who are fluent in English will add burden to the student.

Anwar calls for the Education Ministry to uplift Bahasa Melayu as the official language and strengthening the students’ command of the official language before addressing students’ fluency in English

Anwar hits out at the leaders in the government unrealistic call for mastery in the English language and blames them for being ‘disconnected’ from the grassroots. He added that the gap and differences in facilities in urban and rural schools will make difficult for students in the rural areas to pass the English subject.

Although he agrees for the subject to be made compulsory to students, and for the quality of the command to increase, he is against the government’s plan to make the passing of English compulsory.

Anwar accuses the country’s leaders as being disconnected from the grassroots, and cites this as their inability to gauge the differences in the facilities between urban and rural schools,  which makes it difficult for the latter if English were to be made a compulsory pass subject.