00:00Sarawak Deputy Education Minister Dr. Anwar Rapa'i has called on the federal government
00:06to enact a law specifically aimed at strengthening the use of English among students.
00:12Responding to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's call for students' English proficiency to
00:16be strengthened, Anwar said a dedicated law on this would prevent flip-flops in education
00:21policies, particularly on the teaching of English in schools.
00:26He also proposed that Malaysian students be required to be proficient in both Bahasa
00:30Melayu and English, in addition to another language of their choice, according to the
00:34Borneo Post.
00:36Anwar praised the Prime Minister's call and said it showed that Putrajaya was now
00:40starting to agree with Sarawak on the importance of the English language.
00:45He also rubbished the claims of certain quarters that emphasizing English was unpatriotic,
00:50saying such arguments should be put to rest.
00:53However, he said the Federal Education Ministry needed to ensure that there were enough quality
00:57English language teachers to improve students' proficiency in the language.
01:02Dhanushwar Jha, FMT News.
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