Anwar said he and Singapore prime minister Lawrence Wong had agreed to establish a scheme to send volunteers to teach English to the urban poor and those in the interior of East Malaysia.

“It’s not to bring in and appoint English teachers from Singapore.

“I discussed the scheme, which would be paid for by Singapore, for volunteers to go to urban poor areas and the interior of Sabah and Sarawak to teach English,” he said in a speech at an event with civil servants today.

At a press conference with Wong on Wednesday, Anwar said they had discussed the possibility of sending Singaporean teachers to teach English or other subjects in Malaysia.

However, he did not provide details on the proposal discussed.

The National Union of the Teaching Profession later rejected the proposal, saying Malaysia had enough locals who could do the job, while former minister Rafidah Aziz said Putrajaya should instead hire retired English teachers for the role.

Rafidah said Singaporean teachers would need to be paid in their home country’s currency, which would cost the government three-and-a-half times more given the exchange rate.