Education Minister Mahdzir Khalid today announced that his ministry had approved another 126 schools across the country to implement the Dual Langauge Programme (DLP) this year.

Mahdzir, who is also Padang Terap MP, said the approval was given as the schools concerned had met all the criteria outlined by the ministry to implement the programme.

"Last December, we received a total of 214 applications to implement the DLP, and after an evaluation, only 88 schools had been given approval.

"Today, I would like to announce that the remaining 126 schools have also been given the approval to implement the DLP," he told reporters after visiting the family members of teacher Md Zain Saad who died of kidney failure on Dec 29, at the Kampung Baru Public Housing in Kuala Nerang, Padang Terap.

Mahdzir said an application would be approved when a school fulfilled the four main requirements, namely, having adequate resources, the readiness of the school's principal and its teachers, parental support, as well as the school's achievement in the Bahasa Melayu subject.

He said the latest round of approvals showed that the total number of schools implementing the DLP, which began in 2015, was 1,429 schools.

"We are confident that schools which have opted to run the DLP can implement it well, because it shows that the schools' administration as well as the students' parents are ready, and want to implement the programme.

"Every year, there are more applications to run the DLP, so this shows that it is in high demand, especially from parents who know how important it is for their children," he said.

He added that that government had also taken various proactive measures to empower English teachers, including the establishment of the English Language Teaching Centre (ELTC).

- Bernama