The Education Ministry has received positive response from the public on the proposal to make it compulsory to pass the English language in the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination.

Its deputy minister, Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi, said about 80 per cent of the response was received through the short messaging service and the hotline telephone call.

“The quality of English language teachers has to be looked into, additional time for learning of the English language also need to be studied and, if necessary, we will get English language teachers from abroad to teach here before it (proposal) can be implemented,” he told reporters after opening the Federation of National Writers Associations of Malaysia (Gapena) annual meeting here tonight.

He said Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who is also Education Minister, would announce further details on the matter, as well as on the teaching of Science and Mathematics in English.

– BERNAMA