It’s got to be in English
ENGLISH should be the medium used for the teaching and learning of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects, said award-winning teacher and author Lau Hut Yee (pic).
Named Tokoh Guru Kebangsaan in 1992, the octogenarian who has written nearly 200 school Science textbooks and revision books, is a well-respected educationist and a much-loved educator.
“Using English does not mean we are not loyal to the country. Bahasa Malaysia (BM) – the current medium of delivery in STEM lessons – will always be our national language.
“But English will propel our students to be globally competitive and relevant when they enter the workforce. We must not hinder the development of global youngsters who will lead the nation to greater heights someday,” he said.
Citing the success of India as an example of a successful nation which uses English as its teaching and learning language, he said many international corporations including Google and Adobe are headed by Indian chief executive officers.
Our daily lives, said Lau, is STEMrelated in every way.
Malaysian students are very capable and have great potential to make it big in STEM fields anywhere in the world – if proper guidance and education are provided.
Unfortunately, many students have lost interest in STEM because of our overly exam-oriented education system, said Lau, who is fondly known as Pak Lau by all his “children” — including former Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh — from Sekolah Tunku Abdul Rahman (STAR) where he was a Science and Mathematics teacher, and chief warden for 33 years.
“Science and Mathematics are technical subjects which require practical guidance and practice. But the syllabus has been far too focused on examinations.
“Students are now only interested in getting good results and strings of As. They study not to learn new things, but memorise the information just for the sake of doing well in exams.
“To rekindle the younger generation’s interest in these subjects, they must be taught to explore. When
they explore, curiosity grows and this will increase their interest.”
Besides changing the medium of delivery to English, Lau said there must be adequate STEM teachers to execute the delivery of knowledge to students. The quality of teachers has deteriorated over the years and this has resulted in the production of low quality students, said Lau, adding that it was a “vicious cycle”.
“When English was used during my time, the old boys (former students) could compete with students from around the world. They gained entry into top universities like Cambridge, Oxford, Harvard and Leeds. We should start teaching STEM subjects in English again, but we must make sure that there are enough good teachers who are proficient in the language.”