THE Dual Language Programme (DLP) will continue this year, despite an ongoing court case against its implementation.

The Education Ministry, in a statement today, said 1,303 schools nationwide would run the programme from the start of the school year.

“The ministry wishes to announce that in 2018, the programme will be continued at 1,215 existing schools.

“This year, the ministry has also approved 88 new schools for the DLP, making the total number of participating schools 1,303.”

The statement brings an end to uncertainty over the programme’s implementation since the start of this year’s school term on Tuesday.

A suit was filed in September last year after some parents feared that the DLP would diminish the learning of the Tamil language, causing uncertainty as to whether the programme would continue this year.

This came after a coalition of Malaysian Indian civil society organisations, in February last year, demanded that the ministry remove the programme from 47 Tamil schools.

“All 1,215 schools will continue with the programme in classes that are readily available. They can open new classes only for Year One pupils and Form One students.

“For the 88 new schools given the approval to run the DLP this year, the new classes are for Year One pupils and Form One students only,” said the statement.

It also said the Ikhtisas circular and DLP implementation guidelines would be issued in the first week of the month.

The ministry said DLP classes would begin on January 7 in Kedah, Terengganu, Kelantan and Johor, and the next day in other states.

The DLP was introduced as part of Wave 2 of the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025, and sees Mathematics and Science being taught in English.

Unlike the previous Teaching and Learning of Science and Mathematics in English, or PPSMI, policy, the DLP is strictly voluntary. – January 4, 2018.