Malaysia's Education Ministry Continues To Improve Arabic Proficiency Among Teachers

LANGKAWI (Kedah, Malaysia), April 6 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's Education Ministry is continuously making efforts to improve mastering of Arabic among local Arabic language teachers. The ministry's deputy director of Management of Religious Education Institution, Islamic Education Division, Dr Azhar Ahmad said proficiency in Arabic among local teachers should be improved from time to time as there was no method or standard to gauge the achievements of learners of the language. For example for English, there is the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), he said. "The ministry has conducted training for the teachers from time to time, but it is still not enough," he told Bernama after the opening of a seminar on the use of Arabic language in teaching in Malaysia here Wednesday. The five-day seminar, organised by the Malaysian Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), with the cooperation of the Kolej Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Selangor (KUIS), began last Monday. It involved the participation of 125 teachers and officers in Arabic education from Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, the Philippines, China, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. Dr Azhar said it was the ministry's hope that through the seminar, a standard for Arabic language could be drawn up to monitor the proficiency of the language among teachers. --BERNAMA