JAPANESE LANGUAGE TO BE EXTENDED TO MORE SCHOOLS IN MALAYSIA

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 3 (Bernama) -- The Education Ministry plans to have
more boarding and day secondary schools offering Japanese language as the
third language after Bahasa Malaysia and English.

Director-general of Education Alimuddin Mohd Dom said for this purpose, the
ministry would increase the number of teachers who could teach Japanese
language.

"Each year, we will increase Japanese language lessons at the boarding and
day secondary schools when our students, who are pursuing studies in Japan,
return to Malaysia," he told reporters after opening the Osaka University Forum
2009 here Tuesday.

At present, Alimuddin said there was a shortage of teachers who could teach
foreign languages as the demand not only came from schools, but also from the
ministries and government departments.

As at 2008, he said, 43 boarding schools and 29 day secondary schools
were involved in the Japanese language programme, with Malaysia ranked 12th
in the world in terms of the number of people learning the Japanese language.

Several Japanese language teachers from Malaysia, India, the Philippines,
India, Singapore and Thailand are participating in the two-day forum to discuss
several issues concerning language and education.
-- BERNAMA