MORE than 64,000 fourth-grade students, supported by 800 teachers, are expected to benefit from a pilot capacity-building program to meet their English literacy needs.
Understanding the pressing need to support students who are struggling to keep up with their peers in English language learning, the Financial Industry Collective Outreach (Finco) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the English Language Teaching Center (ELTC) of the Ministry of Education to pilot the new initiative which will initially provide English teachers in schools across the country with structured training, mentoring and classroom resources to use remedial teaching (RI) strategies to support students with low levels of English proficiency.
Along with teaching strategies, teachers will be supported to incorporate skills assessments into daily lessons to identify and address individual student needs and measure progress.
The pilot program, said Finco Chairman Tan Sri Azman Hashim, takes a public-private partnership approach to achieve deeper and more lasting impact, as well as more efficient use of resources.
The initiative, he said in a June 16 press release, aligns with the government’s efforts to create a more equitable and inclusive society, reduce inequalities and ensure high-quality education for everyone.
According to ELTC Director Farah Mardhy Aman, the RI program supports the classroom component of the Highly Immersive Program (HIP), which aims to provide learning support to upper primary students in mastering basic skills. in English to reinforce their basic literacy.
HIP is a program under the Ministry’s Policy for the Defense of Bahasa Malay and the Strengthening of the English Language (better known by its Malay abbreviation, MBMMBI), which aims to create a language-rich environment in schools to support the learning of the English language by the pupils; public-private partnerships and community involvement play a critical role in supporting the program.
HIP outreach partners like Finco have been effective in helping the ministry provide students with access to innovative English learning activities.
Finco chief executive Clare Walker said the pilot program aims to support the pedagogical changes needed to meet the diversity of classroom learning needs.
“The program aligns with our existing efforts to increase access to opportunities for primary school students to master English and improve their reading skills.
“The timing of this program is particularly important as it can help teachers deal with the significant learning loss experienced by young people as a result of Covid-19.”
Now in its fifth year of operation, Finco aims to harness the collective resources of the financial industry to provide disadvantaged children and youth with the guidance and educational tools they need to achieve their life goals.
The programs focus on common financial industry goals of improving English proficiency, life aspiration, financial literacy, and disaster relief.
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