Poor distribution of teachers among reasons for lack of proficiency in English

KUALA LUMPUR: The poor distribution of English teachers in schools has been identified as one of the setbacks faced by the government in its efforts to improve proficiency in the language.
Deputy Education Minister Chong Sin Woon said although the number of English teachers is adequate, their numbers were not adequately distributed among the states.
Citing Kelantan as an example, he said it was difficult to replace an outgoing English teacher in Kelantan with another.
"However, efforts are being taken to address this issue," he told the Dewan Negara in response to a question by Senator Tan Sri Abdul Rahim Abdul Rahman.
Abdul Rahim had asked if the current measures taken by the government to increase the number of English teachers nationwide is working.
Chong said the ministry was actively working to map areas with inadequate number of English teachers.
"We hope the problem can be solved in one or two years," he said.
Meanwhile, Chong reminded English teachers to refrain from using other languages in class when teaching the subject.