Malaysia’s Education Challenges #5: Critical Education Outcomes: Is English Proficiency Necessary?

Bilingual proficiency is a key highlight in the Malaysia Education Blueprint as one of the 11 shifts of transformation. The shift outlines that school-going children are to be operationally proficient in the national language, Bahasa Malaysia, and also the international language of communication, English.

Part of the shift is also to upskill teachers in the English language, make the English language SPM paper a compulsory pass, and encourage children to learn an additional language by 2025. But have any of those goals come to fruition and if they haven't, why not? Where's the disconnect and what can we do to address this issue in order to make our students proficient in the English language? Tan Sri Yong Poh Kon, Chairman of Royal Selangor International Sdn and Afzal Abdul Rahim, Executive Director of TIME dotCom joins us to discuss.

This is an edited recording of the fourth webinar on Malaysia's education challenges, with a focus on Malaysia's Education Blueprint (MEB), and is a collaboration between BFM Media, Edunity Foundation and G25 Malaysia.