KUALA LUMPUR:Using the New Straits Times (NST) as a teaching and learning tool in the classroom has helped SM Sains Rembau (Samesra) boost its students’ performance in English.
Samesra senior assistant (Co-curriculum) Hasni Bakar, who is its English teacher, said the school had been subscribing to the newspaper since 2012.
Samesra won the Rakan Langgan Sisipan NST category for the highest number of NST subscriptions at the Anugerah Pelajar Cemerlang BH-NST 2018 yesterday.
Hasni said the NST was like a living textbook that teachers should use in classrooms.
‘Although a textbook is an important guide for teachers and students, it is only one tool and several years later, it would be outdated by the time it gets into students’ hands.The newspaper is a teaching aid which has current content.
‘It has the ability to increase students’ vocabulary, reading skills and knowledge on various matters besides keeping the students up to date with current news,’she said.
Hasni said her students had improved their sentence structures by reading NST.
‘My students can now form more complex sentences rather than using simple and compound sentences.’
Students had also improved their English scores, said Hasni.
‘In the 2017 SPM (Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia) examination, 69 students scored A’s in English and it has increased to 95 last year.
‘In the 2017 PT3 (Pentaksiran Tingkatan 3) examination,44 scored A’s and it has increased to 75 last year.’
Samesra principal Datin Zainah Ahmad Sisman said she was surprised with the school’s win.
‘I’m really happy for the school. It’s an incentive to continue using the newspaper. We hope to increase the usage of newspapers as teaching aids in the classroom,’she said.