Ensure high-performing leaders in every school

Shift 5: Ensure high-performing leaders in every school

If teaching is to be a prestigious profession, then all teachers must have achieved an appropriate level of education. There is

Quality English teachers need quality leadership. It is therefore no case for authorising unqualified people to teach, particularly

essential that those appointed to the position of head teacher at preschool and early primary levels. It is in preschool that the

have the motivation and ability to coordinate the work of their foundations are laid for later proficiency in English, and yet it is

English teachers and others providing support for the teaching of known from the preparations for LINUS 2.0 that nearly half of all

English, in order to optimise the performance of their schools in Malaysian children are already falling behind in Year 1. Malaysian

the teaching and learning of English.

preschool children deserve to be taught by teachers qualified in early learning and in the teaching of English to beginning learners.

Teachers should also be allowed to focus on their core function Shift 7: Leverage ICT to scale up quality learning across

of teaching Malaysia . Like other professional people, they should make full use of their special expertise, and do what only they can do. Many

It should be the responsibility of the head teacher to ensure that teachers will have the same problem in adjusting to new textbooks

ICT is given its appropriate place in language learning in general, and in and new ways of teaching English, and much duplication of effort

the teaching of English in particular. In order to make this shift possible, can be saved by providing them with day-to-day support in the

teachers will need training in the use of ICT, and an understanding form of resources or guides to enable them to find their way as

of the relationship between computer-assisted language learning and they take up the new approach to teaching and learning. The conventional language learning in the classroom.

2 This point is treated as Shift 5 on page 21 of the executive summary of the Cambridge Baseline, which differs in this instance from the statement on page E-17 of the MEB.

English Language Education Reform in Malaysia The Roadmap 2015-2025

Shift 9: Partner with parents, community and private sector

The area in which the greatest return on investment can

at scale

be expected is in the education of English teachers. The cost of teacher education can be reduced by matching the number of

The teaching of English should not be seen as the sole responsibility those selected to the number required to enter the profession,

of the school, and an important role for the head teacher is to make and by selecting them before they enter tertiary education, thus

use of the resources available in the community to optimise the minimising the cost of training trainees who for one reason or

learning of English. Parents, retired teachers, and local companies

another do not enter the profession.

and other relevant bodies should be encouraged to organise extra- curricular activities to provide students with informal opportunities to engage with English and interact in English. Those with

2. The Three MEB Waves

appropriate qualiications should be permitted and even encouraged to provide support for the teacher in the classroom. Students who

The MEB includes a timetable for developments to take place are suficiently proicient in English could also be found a role in the

by 2025 in the form of three Waves. In the case of English language English classroom and beyond as a kind of community service, while

education, these Waves are interpreted as follows: they are waiting to begin their tertiary education. Wave 1 (2013-2015) is currently underway, and involves

strengthening the current system. In the case of the English

language programme, this amounts to rebuilding the infrastructure on which the programme is based. This includes partly the various