SK School First, Tamil School Later

“I work as an Operator in a company. I have two children. My first child is in standard Two at a Sekolah Kebangsaan. For some reasons I sent my second child currently in Standard One to SJK(T) Castlefield. For some reason or rather, I got to know that my second child is performing slightly better in his studies than my first”, said Mr M. Govalan to the EWRF News Desk during the first day of the English Enrichment Programme (EEP) held at SJK(T) Castlefield. 

EWRF runs EEP for standard one students on every Saturdays from 9.30am to 12.30 noon at five Tamil Schools namely SJK(T) Castlefield, Puchong, SJK(T) Kinrara, Puchong, SJK(T) Puchong Batu 14, SJK(T) Effingham, Damansara and SJK(T) Saraswathy, Old Klang Road. The students are taught English through fun activities and games which can develop their love for  English.

According to Govalan, his second son Visvamogan has been able to acquire English and Malay at a fast pace. “EEP should further improve the proficiency of my son’s English”, said Govalan. He also stressed that parents’ continued support is needed in order to make this programme a great success. Parents also need to constantly monitor their children’s progress so that they would not be left out in education, elaborated Govalan.

As the coordinator of the EEP, I had a discussion with the parents prior to the programme. During the discussion, one parent said that he is very happy that EEP is conducted for his child in school. He added that now his child has an additional opportunity to improve his English as time allocated for English subject during school hours is very limited (60 minutes per week). At the end of the discussion I urged parents to provide due importance to this English programme as it will enhance the students’ proficiency in English.

EWRF also conducts the programme at SJK(T) Effingham, Damansara. This is a partially aided school and the school stands on a land given by a private body”, said Mrs A. Thanaletchumy, the headmistress of the school. She added that a majority of the students in the school come from low socio-economic status, thus EEP is essential for them. I strongly believe that this EWRF’s noble initiative will assist the Standard One students to improve their command of English.

Komala Devi Krishnan, a facilitator for the EEP said that participating students are able to keep up with the programme. They are interested in taking part in fun activities rather than being part of formal learning, elaborated Komala when contacted recently.

- Manikam Krishnan