Malaysia - 7,000 sign petition to PM to allow teaching of subjects in English

GEORGE TOWN,Malaysia - The Parent Action Group for Education Malaysia (PAGE) has sent 7,000 signed petitions to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak calling on the Government to allow the teaching and learning of Science and Mathematics in English (PPSMI) as an option in national schools.

Penang PAGE coordinator Rowena Yam said the petitions were collected in the state since Oct 9.

She said copies of the signed petitions were also sent to Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who is also the Education Minister, and former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

"We mailed the petitions to the parties concerned to fulfil our responsibility to parents, teachers and education stakeholders who had voiced their support.

"We hope that when the Prime Minister returns from performing the haj, he will address the issue seriously," she said after mailing the petitions to the parties concerned at the general post office here yesterday.

PAGE is inviting parent-teacher associations and individuals to attend a press conference in support of the movement this weekend.

'It's never too late to revert to English'

SERI KEMBANGAN, Malaysia - Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has suggested that a referendum be held to decide if the teaching of science and mathematics in English (PPSMI) should be continued.

The former prime minister suggested a survey to establish if there was a gap emerging between the rich and poor due to access to English.

"I think we should do a survey to find out if it is true that rich people send their children to schools which use English while the poor attend Government schools which teach in Bahasa Malaysia.

"You never know, the people who are calling for both subjects to be taught in Bahasa Malaysia may be sending their children to English schools," he said yesterday.

"We cannot keep up with the latest in science unless we can understand the language in which the knowledge comes from," he said.

Dr Mahathir firmly stood by his belief that PPSMI was beneficial for all Malaysians although "many old friends" were against him on it.

"I am as much a nationalist as anyone else. I advocated the use of Bahasa Malaysia long before many were born," he said.

Asked if it was too late to revert to English, he said it was never too late.

"These are man-made laws. All kinds of laws have been changed, such as slavery and death penalty, in some countries."

Meanwhile, Kita president Datuk Zaid Ibrahim welcomed the Deputy Prime Mini-ster's Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin's "soft lan-ding" approach towards abolishing PPSMI.

He said it was good as it provided the flexibility that many parents wanted.

"We want the best policy for the children," he said.

Zaid said the decision would also provide time for policymakers to relook the policy at a later time.

He said if poor quality teachers were the issue, it should just be resolved rather than flip-flopping on policy decision.

He refuted the argument that teaching the subjects in English did not support Bahasa Malaysia as the courts had ruled that it did not undermine the national language.

Zaid also said English should be maintained as the language for the two subjects because people could not acquire the best knowledge in science without knowing English.

Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin said the Education Ministry had offered a sensible solution.

"The teaching of the subjects in English should not be forced on the students," he said.

Khairy said he had been in favour of the Bahasa Malaysia being used to teach the subjects.

Learning in English to continue

PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia - Students who have started learning Science and Mathematics in English will continue to do so until they complete their studies in Form Five.

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the decision was made by the Cabinet to ease the concerns of parents.

This meant that pupils from Year Two onwards would continue learning under the Teaching and Learning of Science and Mathematics in English (PPSMI) policy, he said.

"I am not interested in the PPSMI debate and I hope parents understand that the Government is responsive.

"A circular on the issue has already been prepared and we will send it out to schools very soon," he told reporters after briefing ministry staff on the "soft landing" of the policy.

Muhyiddin said schools would have the option to teach Science and Mathematics fully in English, Bahasa Malaysia, or bilingually.

"Students will continue with whatever system they have in place now, be it in English, Bahasa Malaysia or both languages."

The two subjects will be fully taught again in Bahasa Malaysia starting 2016 for primary schools and 2021 for secondary schools.

Muhyiddin said research had shown that most schools were already teaching both subjects in Bahasa Malaysia.

"Less than 5% of 7,495 primary schools use English to teach the subjects, and for secondary schools, less than 9% out of 2,192 use English," he said.

When pressed for more information, Muhyiddin said this meant that the medium of instruction for the two subjects in schools would be based on the needs of children and teachers.

"The schools would know better than me," he said.

The PPSMI policy was initiated by former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and implemented in phases, beginning with Year One, Form One and Lower Six students in 2003.

It was then announced in 2009 that the Government would reverse the policy and revert to Bahasa Malaysia in national schools, and Chinese and Tamil in vernacular schools, while more emphasis would be placed on English as a subject.

At the time, it was also announced that Form Six students would not be affected by the reversal so as to help them in their transition to tertiary studies.

Muhyiddin said public examinations for the two subjects would continue to be bilingual until 2016 for primary schools and 2021 for secondary schools.

"It is up to students to choose to answer in any language they are comfortable in.

"They can even answer one question in English and another in Bahasa Malaysia in the same examination paper," he added.

Muhyiddin also said the ministry had produced textbooks in Bahasa Malaysia to cater to schools which were already teaching the two subjects in that language, as they had been using translations of the present English textbooks.

He added that the abolition of the PPSMI policy did not mean that the Government was ignoring the importance of mastering English.

"Under the policy on Upholding Bahasa Malaysia and Strengthening English, the ministry is implementing new initiatives to improve the mastery of English among students," he said.

The Star/Asia News Network

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