Don: English standard of undergrads still not up to par

Malaysia is on par with or ahead of some of the regional countries in terms of investment in education. However, the quality of its undergraduates’ command of English still remains an issue.
Dr Marie Aimee Tourres, a senior research fellow at the Department of Development Studies, Universiti Malaya (UM), said it was crucial for graduates to have a good command of English to ensure they would be able to compete effectively in the global job market.
Nevertheless, “in terms of education spending, Malaysia is comparable to some countries in the region based on the percentage spent over its gross domestic product (GDP) growth”, she said.
She said Malaysia was actually spending more than other countries.
In Budget 2012, RM13.6bil was allocated to the social sector, including education and training, health, welfare, housing and community development.
Dr Tourres said there was also a lot of focus given to training and re-training of graduates, which was important to continuously upgrade skilled and knowledge workers in the country.
However, the quality of undergraduates remains an issue.
“Language is definitely an issue,” she said, citing a recent publication by the World Bank, The Road to Academic Excellence, which is a study on what contributes to a world-class research university.
The study compared UM and the National University of Singapore (NUS) in a chapter titled “The National University of Singapore and the University of Malaya: Common Roots and Different Paths”.
In the report, it was stated that as NUS kept pace with the demands of a growing economy that sought to become competitive internationally, with English continuing as the language of instruction and research, UM began to focus inward as proficiency in English declined in favour of the national language.
“This generation will have to face international standards and competition in terms of job market, as part of globalisation,” said Dr Tourres.
She cited Pakistan, where she gives lectures, as an example.
“In Pakistan, although the people speak different dialects next to the Urdu language, their English is better than our graduates,” she noted.
She said it made them more marketable in the global environment.
Dr Tourres believed that even if Malaysia gave more focus to English, the national language and culture could still prosper, provided that teaching was made interesting. — Bernama