300 FULBRIGHT SCHOLARS TO TEACH IN M'SIA

WASHINGTON, June 29 (Bernama) -- About 300 Fulbright scholars from the
United States will teach English at selected Malaysian schools starting next
year, said Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

He said at the outset 50 volunteers under the Fulbright programme would
start teaching early next year.

"Learning English will be done in an innovative and exciting way under the
programme.

"We want learning English to be fun by improving existing programmes to
motivate students to speak and interact in English," he told Malaysian
journalists covering his four-day working visit to Washington, Wednesday.

The White House had initially agreed to send teachers to teach English under
the Peace Corps programme following a request made by Prime Minister Najib Razak
to President Barack Obama during the United Nations General Assembly in New York
in September last year.

Muhyiddin said he followed-up the matter by holding many discussions at the
ministerial level and following his meetings with US Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton in Kuala Lumpur and Washington, it was decided the White House
would send English teachers under the Fulbright programme instead of the Peace
Corps.

"The adoption of the Fulbright programme will not change the school
timetable.

"Instead more innovative ways of teaching will be introduced by capitalising
on the existing timetable," he said, adding that the ministry would select
schools which would benefit from the programme.

Muhyiddin said before the English teachers were posted to the selected
schools, they would undergo an orientation programme for several weeks to
acquaint them with local culture and customs.

He said there was no need to study the effectiveness of the pilot project
before implementing it as Terengganu had taken its own initiative to adopt the
Fulbright programme.

"From feedback received, it had received an overwhelming response from
Terengganu students, who had greatly improved their command of English and are
eager to learn and interact in English," he said.

Muhyiddin said although the programme was sponsored by the US government
by enlisting volunteers to teach English in foreign countries, the Malaysian
government decided to bear part of the cost such as accommodation.

"Although the US government didn't ask for it, the prime minister feel this
is a small contribution on our part," he said, adding that the government also
allocated RM1.4 million (about US$467,0000) to an organisation which would be
managing the placement of 300 teachers under the programme.

He said a memorandum of understanding between Malaysia and the US on the
collaboration and terms of reference would be signed by year-end.
-- BERNAMA