CHANGES may be made to the teaching of English, especially in primary schools, to ensure that students get a better grasp on the language.

"We may stretch the English lesson period by shortening the time for other subjects, or train and outsource more teachers to teach English," Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said yesterday.

"We will make an effort to ensure that the usage of English language is strengthened."

Hishammuddin said this in a press conference at the parliament lobby to elaborate on the ministry's decision to re-evaluate the policy of using English for the teaching of Science and Mathematics in schools.

The minister assured that even if changes were made to the policy, the English language would not be neglected.
He said his ministry was currently gathering feedback from teachers and parent-teacher associations on the policy.

"We have been receiving mixed reactions from the public. The urban dwellers support the use of English, the rural people have mixed views while the Chinese schools are against it," he said, adding that this could be translated into fear that the emphasis on English might have affected the usage of Malay language or mother tongues.

Earlier, Deputy Education Minister Datuk Razali Ismail said the ministry would re-evaluate the effectiveness of using English to teach Mathematics and Science in primary schools after the UPSR examination this year.

He said the focus would be on Year Six students as they had been subjected to the programme for six years since 2003.

"The findings will be used to decide on whether to continue or improve the policy," he said in reply to a question from Nga Kor Ming (DAP-Taiping).

To a supplementary question from Azmin Ali (PKR-Gombak), Razali said the use of English for the two subjects was part of the ministry's strategy to help students to be more competitive globally.

"The move does not mean other languages are cast aside.

"We are simply looking at it as a strategy for our future," he said.