EIGHT-year-old A. Dominiq from SJKT Java Lane in Seremban could not hide the wide grin on his face when his father showed up at school and played the guitar for him and his classmates recently.

It was just an ordinary school day and his father A.D. Arokiam, who is also a teacher, was among a group of parents who have been volunteering their free time to help their children with their English lessons after school hours or during weekends.

Arokiam or Uncle A.D. as the children called him, strummed his guitar to the tune of This is the way we brush our teeth while another parent K. Rajeswary led the kids in song.

The parents, among them housewives, are part of the LearnEnglish Family project aimed at increasing parental participation in schools which was launched last year by the British Council in co-operation with the Education Ministry.

A total of 10 schools were picked for the programme’s pilot project last July and according to British Council ELT projects senior teacher Heather Smeeton, the group from SJKT Java Lane was showing the most promise.

Interactive: Sarojini reading to the children as Johnson (right), Abdullah Mohamad (second from right), Noor Rezan and Lemos (left) look on.

“Research shows that children do better in school when parents and teachers work together. Our programme was developed to improve children’s performance at school with support of both their parents and teachers.

“At the beginning of the project, we conducted workshops with the teachers and parents to guide them on how best they could work together for the pupils’ benefit. But after that, they were expected to contribute their own ideas and that is exactly what the parents here have done,” she said at the school recently during a visit by ministry deputy director general (schools operation) Datuk Noor Rezan Bapoo Hashim and British Council acting chair Gerard Lemos.

Smeeton expressed hope that the programme, if proven successful, could be expanded to other schools in the country.

“There are five schools here and another five in Brickfields which are part of the project. We are fortunate to have received support from the MOE and funding from HSBC and Scholastic Malaysia who provide books for the children.

“Although it is now only six months into the programme, we can already see positive results from some of the pilot groups. The confidence level of the pupils has improved and they are starting to perform better in their schoolwork. In addition, the project helps open the lines of communication between teachers and parents which is ultimately beneficial for the children,” she said, adding that only Year One classes were picked for the pilot programme.

For the benefit of Noor Rezan, Lemos and other guests who had not witnessed the programme at work, some of the parents demonstrated their “teaching” skills in lessons which supported the children’s on-going classroom activities.

Businesswoman S. Sarojini, 35, sang and acted out a nursery rhyme with the help of mothers who provided the musical accompaniment.

After that, the parents sat on the floor with their children and helped them complete a puzzle too.

The programme seems to be working judging by the happy faces all around — the parents were no doubt proud of their efforts while the children were excited to have them there.

The parents here, who are mostly from the middle income group, are a pro-active bunch who worked together to paint a mural in a classroom to create a more conducive environment for the children.

Also present were state education director Datuk Abdullah Mohamad, British Council Malaysia country director Mandy Johnson and school headmaster Roslan Abdullah.