Education Minister Musa Mohamed today clarified that the RM100-per-hour scheme will only apply to consultants who are hired to help teachers improve their proficiency in the English language.

He explained that these consultants, or resource persons, will sit in classes and provide guidance and training to the teachers.

"When we talk about the RM100-per-hour teaching, we are engaging them as consultants, not as teachers.

"They are experienced people and with good qualifications," he told reporters after a post-cabinet meeting at his office in Kuala Lumpur.

Musa also said that at least one consultant will be attached to each district education office. They will be put in charge of several schools and work two to three hours a week.

However, he said that those who are hired as full-time teachers will get the pay equivalent to that of other teachers.

"This is a standard procedure. This is not new, the only thing is the scheme now applies to teachers who are used as resource persons," he stressed.

He added that resource persons did not necessary be locals.

"Already we have got about 23 teachers from the United Kingdom who have been brought in as resource persons, not teachers," he said.

The minister also revealed that about 200 to 300 contract teachers have also been employed and they are trained to teach English, not Science and Mathematics.

20,000 teachers to be trained

Asked on the preparation for Science and Mathematics teachers to instruct the subjects in English, he replied: "That is going on and we will mount it in a big way from the middle of September".

"We will train around 500 to1,000 teachers for the first batch and they will go down to the ground to teach other colleagues," he said.

Musa said that a total 20,000 teachers from both primary and secondary schools will be trained by the end of the year.

According to him, the training for the first batch of teachers will start on Sept 16.

Asked about the new bilingual textbooks for the two subjects, the minister said a 15-member committee has been set up to work on this.

He added that the primary school textbooks will be published by Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka while those for secondary students will be published by a private firm appointed by the ministry.

Performance may erode

The government has decided to implement the language switch for the two subjects despite widespread objection from various quarters, especially vernacular education groups.

While these groups acknowledged the importance of mastering English, they argued that teaching Science and Mathematics in that language will not improve proficiency.

They also said that the switch may see vernacular school students' performance in the two subjects deteriorate as it is easier for them to learn the subjects in their respective mother-tongues.

Their objections met with a strong rebuke from government leaders, including Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who warned them 'not to play with fire'.

Even Chinese-based parties in the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition have expressed reservation over the switch.

The switch will take effect next year in all schools for Year One, Remove Class, Form One and Lower Six students.