Better- English: MOE To Revive Scheme
By Sobrina Rosli

Bandar Seri Begawan - The Curriculum Development Department, Ministry of Education (MOE) is reviving their Reading and Language Acquisition (Rela) programme to improve the English language proficiency of Bruneians.

Abdul Gani Hj Daud, a curriculum officer said, "Though the programme has been ongoing for nearly 20 years now, we want to improve the programme and develop it further.

"The initiative of this programme is a key component that is aligned with the Ministry of Education's vision of implementing a 21st education plan in Brunei as well as be another platform to enhance the use of the English language in Brunei, he said. "We really want to focus on developing the primary curriculum, enhancing the English language use, language skills and the use of Information Communication Technoloby," added Abdul Gani.

The Rela programme was first set up in Singapore and was adopted by Brunei in 1989, but it only became active in 2002. There are currently 1,620 teachers certified under the programme.

The programme is specifically designed for primary school English teachers.

The programme encourages the learning of the English language through listening, reading and writing skills. .

Teachers who are Rela certified should be able to foster student learning and improve their methods of English language teaching.

The project comes at a time when there has been much talk by the government of improving locals' proficiency in the English language. Which has recently been lamented to be on the decline?

The programme is also hoped to be merged together with Brunei's primary English curriculum.

The Rela workshop will start on March 17 with 54 participants to become facilitators of the programme.

Once the participants have become certified Rela facilitators, they are expected to encourage the spread and use of the programme in their respective school, which would be followed by hosting additional workshops in other schools, in due course.

"The 54 participants are government teachers from all over Brunei and we are hoping to have one Rela facilitator in each school," he said.

One of the biggest challenges that English teachers face is that most families in this country seldom speak English at home. Norinah Abdullah, a curriculum officer said, "We want to really encourage teachers to speak English when they are teaching the subject and only use translation as a last resort."

To become a Rela facilitator, teachers should have a Teaching English as a Second Language or TESL certificate.

The teachers should also have had experience teaching English using Rela techniques. Rela facilitators will act as planners or workshop facilitators, and be able to write reports on the development of Rela in their schools.

Another of the department's efforts in ensuring proficiency in the English language is the launch of the English programme for pre-schools where teachers are also required to attend workshops. The programme is held in 15 schools all over the country.-- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

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