State Education, Information, Entrepreneurship Development and Cooperative committee chairman Md Jais Sarday said plans were underway to implement several programmes under the policy of upholding Bahasa Melayu and strengthening English proficiency (MBMMBI).

Among these were the 5 Star UPSR (Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah) and SPM (Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia) programme requiring each district to identify five per cent of candidates who were in the fail-pass level to be guided through a two-day workshop, he said.

He said the workshop aimed to increase by five per cent the number of students with a pass in English.

Md Jais said they would also hold a UPSR and SPM “Effective Writing Programme” to expose and empower English teachers.

“Teachers will implement the programme in their respective schools for six weeks and then produce a report on the achievement of every student,” he added.

He said this when replying to a question by Syed Sis Syed Abd Rahman (BN-Tanjung Surat) in the State Assembly, here today.

The Johor Education Foundation has also collaborated with Universiti Teknologi Malaysia to organise the English empowerment programme “Penggayaan Bahasa Inggeris Negeri Johor” for which RM1 million has been allocated, said Md Jais, who is also Mahkota assemblyman.