THE Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship (ETA) programme to enhance English instruction in secondary schools is expected to expand when 75 participants arrive in the country, early next year.
United States ambassador to Malaysia Datuk Paul W. Jones said currently the US government is in the selection process after having received hundreds of applications from among university graduates to join the voluntary programme.
“We have the ETA in Terengganu, Johor and Pahang, and we will be working with the Malaysian government to see if it would like to extend it to additional states or have more in those states,” he told reporters after visiting the Malaysian Peacekeeping Training Centre in Port Dickson on Tuesday.
Under the programme, young American graduates from various universities in the US, majoring in diverse fields, are placed in schools in different districts to assist English teachers.
Early this year, a group of 50 Fulbright ETAs arrived and began a 10-month assignment to enrich and enhance English instruction in secondary schools in Johor, Pahang and Terengganu, by providing native speakers as models who can also provide interesting information and insight into American society and culture.
Jones said the ETA, which rewards young Americans and students in secondary schools, is one of the largest government-to-government programmes the US has ever undertaken.
The programme was a shared commitment between US President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, to expand bilateral people-to-people exchange programmes.
The programme is jointly administered by the Malaysian-American Commission on Educational Exchange and the Education Ministry. – Bernama
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