Sarawak’s push for English to be used in schools for science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects will be discussed tomorrow by a technical committee on the Malaysia Agreement 1963, says deputy prime minister Fadillah Yusof.
Fadillah said the Sarawak demand would be challenging in view of the need to ensure uniformity in the national school curriculum.
“We have a national policy which applies across Malaysia. So, if Sarawak moves away from this policy, there may no longer be uniformity. We will have to find a way to facilitate Sarawak’s demand to use English in the learning of STEM,” he said in Kuching today.
Fadillah added that the Dual-Language Programme and the setting up of the Sarawak Cancer Centre will also be among the matters to be discussed tomorrow.
In June 2024, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim urged reforms in the education system to emphasise STEM subjects and English proficiency, to match global competitiveness.
He said English was important as the medium for advanced learning, and highlighted the government’s push for the DLP, which allows schools to teach science and mathematics in English, while still requiring at least one class in Bahasa Malaysia.
