Don’t toy with education
English must be accorded a higher stature in schools, be given greater emphasis and longer exposure hours, coupled with the appropriate teacher training.
ACHANCE meeting with a distinguished member of the Education Review Panel at the 2011 Mahathir Science Award presentation recently revealed to me that the panel sees a definitive future in the learning of Science and Mathematics in English.
We sincerely hope that this decision by the panel is conveyed to the Prime Minister and his Government in an honest, pure and unadulterated manner.
This brings to mind the roundtable sessions in 2008 of which I attended three of five. While the contention was whether to stick to using English in primary schools or revert to mother tongue, there was hardly mention of any change at the secondary level.
While a brave man from Dong Zhong did attempt to suggest that Science and Mathematics be taught in Mandarin in secondary schools, his proposal was soundly shot to pieces even before he had finished. The topic of national-type secondary schools was taboo, and still is a big “no-no”.
When the decision was made in 2009 to abolish the policy in totality, for both primary and secondary schools, it came as a shock. How could this have happened? This was not the outcome of the roundtables that I attended.
Was there another series of roundtables, I wondered? Or was it the outcome of that one meeting the Education Minister had with Malay ultra-nationalists and seven Chinese associations days before a by-election that had overturned the decision? Can one man change the future of the education of our children just like that?
Historically, it has been shown that a few not-so-sensible men did change the future of Malaysian education in the blink of an eye without thoroughly weighing the long-term consequences of their actions.
The 1970s nationalists were hasty in forcing Bahasa Malaysia into academics. Bahasa Malaysia, at the time, was going through its early years of modernisation and clearly was not yet ready to take on the job.
The May 1969 incident was the catalyst that changed the course of our education system. In the name of national integration, English-medium schools became the sacrificial lamb in making the national school the school of choice.
One of the reasons for the acute deterioration of Malaysians’ command of English is that very hasty action. It should serve as a lesson.
English must be accorded a higher stature in schools, be given greater emphasis and longer exposure hours, coupled with the appropriate teacher training. What better and faster way to kill two birds with one stone than by teaching Science and Mathematics in English?
With PPSMI, students are not only gaining knowledge in the lingua franca of science and technology, their English exposure time also increases.
Another blunder in education was the introduction of Bahasa Baku, which makes no sense, and is not even knowledge-enhancing. That debacle was also the work of just one man.
Parents can no longer accept that one person holds the power to decide the future of the education of our children as he wishes. Furthermore, these changes commonly occur whenever the Education Minister is changed.
We are finally making headway and seeing progress with the extension of PPSMI and the setting up of the Education Review Panel.
After almost four years of lobbying, seven memoranda to the minister, which did not get any response, numerous forums, press conferences, articles and mentions in the media and letters to editors, our labour is finally bearing fruit. In other words, we see this as the Government’s way of acknowledging our requests.
It is our fervent wish as parents that the panel, formed last December, will provide the independence that is so wanting in assessing all elements of the system, including the principals, teachers and students, the curriculum, pre-school to tertiary, life-long learning, the role of education in human resource development, the infrastructure, the learning environment, unity and integration. The list goes on.
The panel is to seek not just feedback from local universities and institutions but also to initiate benchmarks against international standards, with a major focus on English yet not forgetting the role of Mandarin, Tamil and indigenous mother tongues, which undoubtedly involves a whole spectrum of processes and detailed analyses of the diagnostics.
The ministerial Cabinet as well as the stakeholders must be kept aware of its findings, and the new blueprint should encompass a public view with a broad perspective.
While the ministry continues to seem to encourage parents to be a part of the education equation, it is mere rhetoric for now as many attempts by us to meet the Education Minister and his director-general have been totally ignored. Maybe they have their reasons. Nonetheless, we welcome the “open” spirit.
That only 29% of students pursue the science stream is disheartening. However, it is encouraging to note that the religious school Ma’ahad Tahfiz Wal Tarbiyyah Darul Iman Tok Jiring in Kuala Terengganu is adding Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Additional Mathematics to its syllabus. The principal of the school is to be applauded.
Principals have to be global thinkers, visionaries even, in order to encourage their students to pursue the science stream to further the cause of science for humanity. Think big. Think beyond.
“Father of Hybrid Rice” Prof Yuan Longping of Hainan Island, China, the man whose innovation promises to end world hunger, has increased supply of grains manifold and can now feed 70 million more people annually including providing additional income to thousands of farmers.
By secretly reading Western magazines such as Crop Science, he managed to learn an approach to science that was different. His techniques have since been commercialised throughout Asia, Africa and the Americas.
Malaysians can do it too once we put our minds to it.
The science adviser to the Prime Minister has joined in the fray to say that he is looking at the New Zealand system for science literacy. MOSTI too speaks of new scientific endeavours such as nanotechnology, bioinformatics, alternative and renewable energy.
Unless and until the failures in our education system are checked, better sooner than later, they have the potential of bringing the Government to its knees.
Parents are fed-up of the constant toying of the education system. Enough is enough. Parents can no longer tolerate this. Parents all over the country are joining forces to organise a rally for the sake of our children’s education, come March 10. Be there. > The writer is chairman of the Parent Action Group for Education Malaysia (PAGE), a national education watchdog.