The Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) hopes the two-day 2017 Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) English Carnival, beginning today, will help raise English proficiency among students and increase their confidence while using it as the second language.

The carnival, organised at Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) for the first time, is aimed at giving students the exposure to help increase their proficiency in English.

Deputy minister Mary Yap Kain Ching said the government was aware that many graduates upon graduation could not communicate effectively in English.

“The main purpose of this carnival is to improve English proficiency among students for the purpose of job marketability and at the same time, enhance student self-confidence.

“Through this carnival, we want students from different universities to communicate in English as it can help improve their communication skills in the language,” she told Bernama in Sintok today.

Earlier, she officiated the 2017 MOHE English Carnival at UUM, which was attended by UUM vice-chancellor Mohamed Mustafa Ishak and Bukit Kayu Hitam state assemblyman Ahmad Zaini Jaapar.

She said proficiency in English was very important, especially when students wanted to secure a job upon graduation.

“English proficiency is one of the major issues in the corporate sector where the students (with inadequate English proficiency) were seen as weak when it comes to finding jobs after graduation...so, this carnival can be seen as a way to help solve this problem,” added Yap.

Meanwhile, Mohamed Mustafa said the carnival was a new initiative in creating a conducive environment to improve English language proficiency among students.

“English is something fun to learn and this carnival is one way to learn the language. Every university involved in the carnival has its own English programme, so here they can share ideas and information,” he said.

The carnival features a concept where participants from 20 public universities nationwide were randomly selected and required to communicate and complete assignments in English.

- Bernama