KUALA LUMPUR – Secondary schools in Sarawak will begin teaching science and mathematics in English from 2026, state education minister Datuk Seri Roland Sagah said.
In that year, the first cohort of primary school students who learnt the two subjects in English under the Education Ministry’s Dual Language Programme (DLP) will enter Form 1.
Sarawak’s move to have secondary schools in the state use English to teach mathematics and science subjects – such as biology, chemistry, physics and additional mathematics – has received approval from the federal Education Ministry, The Star reported Sagah as saying at the state legislative assembly in Kuching today.
He added that this was one of “several pivotal points” that the federal education ministry had agreed to as part of Putrajaya’s devolution of powers to Sarawak.
Sagah, who is Sarawak education, innovation and talent development minister, said his ministry and the federal education ministry are now formalising the agreement to develop circulars and regulations for implementation.
The DLP was rolled out by the federal Education Ministry in 2016 for selected schools, following the failure of an earlier programme to teach science and mathematics in English in all schools.
Besides becoming a political “hot potato” issue, teaching mathematics and science in English has led to complaints about inconsistent levels of teaching quality and the inability of students in under-resourced and rural schools to keep pace with their urban counterparts.
Sarawak began the DLP for science and mathematics for its Standard 1 pupils in 2020.
Sagah today also said Sarawak’s education ministry was planning for standardised assessments for Standard 6 pupils to start next year and Form 3 students by 2028.
The standardised tests will only involve English, mathematics and science, and will affect the first cohort of students in the state who were involved in the DLP in 2020.
“To ensure the quality and standard of the assessment, my ministry is now in discussions with an international accredited assessment provider, due to be concluded soon,” Sagah said.
He said Sarawak felt the need to return to standardised assessments, as the federal education ministry-imposed school-based assessment system “did not work well” in Sarawak’s circumstances.
“We are plagued by insufficient numbers and the sorry state of our educational infrastructure and facilities, shortage of teachers in the corresponding subject matter options, inadequate teachers’ professional development opportunities, and a host of other issues,” he said. – May 13, 2024