PADANG TERAP: The Education Ministry today approved applications by another 126 schools nationwide to implement the Dual Language Programme (DLP), bringing the total number of schools approved for this year to 214 primary and secondary schools.
Its minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid said the approval was in addition to the 88 approvals by the ministry from the total 214 applications received as of December 2017.
Mahdzir said that initially, the application by the 126 schools were turned down as they did not meet the technical aspects requirement, which is one of the four criteria set by the ministry.
"Based on the terms set by the ministry, the schools which applied for DLP must meet four criteria; firstly the school need to have ample resources, the school administrator is prepared to implement DLP, it is agreed by all parents and the school meets the minimum score for Bahasa Malaysia.
"However, the ministry had decided to approve the remaining applications by the 126 schools as we have decided to deploy teachers to address the technical issue," he said.
Mahdzir said as of 2016 and 2017, the ministry had approved applications by 1,215 primary and secondary schools to implement the DLP.
"Following the approval of another 214 schools for this year, altogether we have 1,429 schools nationwide implementing the DLP involving some 200,000 students," he said.
Mahdzir also said the ministry has never suspended the DLP, as claimed by a news portal, while stressing that the ministry encourages schools to apply for the programme for as long as it has the support from the parents and the schools meet the criteria required.
Yesterday, the ministry clarified that the DLP will proceed at 1,215 existing schools that have adopted the programme.
In the statement, the ministry said all 1,215 schools would continue with the programme and they can offer the DLP to the new batch of Year One and Form One students.
The minstry added that the DLP will begin on Jan 7 (Sunday) for schools in Kedah, Terengganu, Kelantan and Johor. For the other states, the programme will begin on Jan 8 (Monday).
It was also stated that special circular letters and DLP implementation guidelines will be issued by the first week of January.
The issue of the DLP postponement created confusion among teachers, parents and students after a blog run by “Cikgu Nurul” said a state education department had allegedly issued a statement that the programme had been postponed until a directive and further implementation of the guidelines were issued by the ministry.
