KUCHING: All of the state’s primary and secondary schools comprising 1265 primary and 192 secondary schools have implemented the Highly Immersive Programme (HIP). According to State Education Deputy Director Abang Mat Ali Abang Masagus the HIP is not a new programme since it reinforces the 1999 circular (Pekeliling Aktiviti Sokongan Bahasa Inggeris di Sekolah 1999) which states that all schools should organise English language support activities for students to increase their exposure time to the language.
“HIP has been commencing in 206 and eventually rolled out to all schools in the state by 2018. “In 2016 only 271 primary and 51 secondary schools were implementing the programme while in 2017 it increased to 788 primary and 190 secondary schools,” he said in his speech during the closing ceremony of Wacana Highly Immersive Programme (HIP) Sarawak Zone 2018 at Riverside Majestic Hotel, here yesterday. HIP allows a highly immersive language-rich environment to be developed for the student, he pointed out.
“In such an environment, students are deliberately and recurrently exposed to the English language through a variety of activities of high-quality linguistic input both within and beyond the classroom,” he added.
He pointed out that the success of the HIP largely depended on the combination of four fundamental factors such as school head, teachers, students and parents as well as community too. “Each factor plays a critical and supportive role in the learning process of students and is crucial to the improvement of students learning outcomes,” he said.
The event was held from 24 until 26 September which was attended by 303 participants comprising the school principals, heads of sectors, district English officers and others.
