A TOTAL of 576 schools will be involved in the pilot Reading Progress app to help improve English proficiency among students.

Education Minister Radzi Jidin said this initiative, which kicked off today, involved 1,088 teachers.

“This app will be used in the teaching and learning system, especially to help students with pronunciation of English words,” he told reporters after launching the initiative in Shah Alam today.

“Through this approach, students can record audio or video, or both, when they read in English. In addition, this system will help them see what the words are, hear how they are pronounced and so on.

“This will help students recognise new words and the sentence structures better.”

Radzi said the initiative was part of the concept and efforts to digitise education and provide space for students to learn in a fun atmosphere.

He said the app will also make the teachers’ task of assessing students’ performance easier.

“The ministry is expected to roll out the app in schools nationwide by early next year. The Bahasa Melayu app that will follow,” he said.

“This is a start. God willing, after we implement the pilot programme, we will improve it, if necessary.

“The ministry will also expand to Bahasa Melayu when the Microsoft app is available, which is expected next year.

“All this is an approach to facilitate learning and ensure that it is more efficient and effective.” – Bernama, October 18, 2022.