-S.P. Nathan, President, Educational, Welfare and Research Foundation Malaysia. Malay Mail, Monday February 13, 2017.

One of the major challenges faced by academically low-performing Indian students from the challenged communities – B40 group – in secondary schools is their inability to integrate or “mix” with other communities. This has greatly affected the upward mobility of these youths and the key barrier to this is the lack of proficiency in languages, including Bahasa Melayu and English.

Inability to communicate proficiently in the national language and/or English and the lack of competencies or skills have made matters worse for these youths. How are these people going to improve their livelihood? Who is going to employ them? Youths with specific skills are not successfully employed because they are not able to sell their skills beyond the Indian community.

Recognising the importance of language for social mobility and looking at language from an economic utility angle, the Educational, Welfare and Research Foundation Malaysia has been promoting English acquisition as one of its core activities since 2006.

This is in line with the government’s endeavours in promoting English as a language for knowledge acquisition and a “business” language.

The foundation believes being proficient in this international language will have a tremendous impact on the self-esteem and confidence of a student, especially one who has been exposed to only Tamil language during his/her early years.

Unlike children from the T20 community who are constantly exposed to the English language, students from the B40 group have limited exposure and resources. They do not have the luxury of tuition centres, professional programmes and Internet facilities enjoyed by their more affluent peers.

Various NGOs have been providing help to this group, but the resources are not sufficient to cover all those who need help.

The foundation is aware of the severe constraints in resources since we have been involved in this service for the last decade.

How do we avail opportunities for these students to improve their “business” language proficiency so that they can secure decent employment to eventually move out of the B40 band?

Their only source for learning English is the teachers in schools. The foundation views the implementation of Dual language Programme (DLP) as an excellent opportunity for B40 students to become proficient in English.

The foundation recognises the challenges faced by the community in the implementation of DLP. However, it is the community’s responsibility to identify these challenges and find ways to overcome them.

Denying students the added opportunity to become proficient in English should never be the choice. Students in the B40 band, especially in rural areas, need help within the school system since external help may not be available due to lack of financial resources.

Many parents have voiced their support for DLP. They agree to this development and the foundation is of the view the voice of parents must be given due respect. Parents are responsible for their children and no one should underestimate their ability to decide.

Parents, especially from the B40 band, who view English from the economic utility angle, know proficiency in the language is required for their social mobility and economic success. They want their children to excel in the language and climb the social ladder. So, let’s not deprive their children the opportunity to move forward.

S.P. Nathan

President

Educational, welfare and Research Foundation Malaysia.