The Pro-ELT project is a Malaysian Ministry of Education project, delivered by the British Council. Cohort 1 took place 2012 – 2013 with 5000 teachers participating. Cohort 2 took place 2014 – 2015 with 9000 teachers participation. The project aims to strengthen English teaching and learning in Primary and Secondary Schools across Malaysia, by increasing the English proficiency of teachers on the project.
Students in Malaysia face tremendous challenges in attaining English proficiency, and this is reflected in both national assessments and international English examinations.
One of the priorities for the Ministry of Education is to implement initiatives to help develop the language and teaching skills of English language teachers across Malaysia. The Pro-ELT project has targeted 14,000 teachers across all the 13 states and 3 federal territories of Malaysia to date. The British Council with the Malaysian Ministry of Education will raise the level of language proficiency of Malaysian primary and secondary school teachers from B1 to B2 or B2 to C1 on the CEFR proficiency scale.
The rationale for Pro – ELT is based on two main beliefs:
- Quality of teachers is the single most important determinant of student outcomes
- English proficiency is a prerequisite to good teaching of the language
The British Council and the Ministry of Education work hand in hand to ensure that Pro-ELT maintains high standards and meets its objectives. Apart from internal British Council and MoE continuous project assessment, external international consultants have also developed a Monitoring and Evaluation Framework to ensure the quality and success of Pro-ELT.