By Syed Jaymal Zahiid
PUTRAJAYA, July 9 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak today completely ignored the concerns of his endorser Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and defended the government's call to scrap the teaching of maths and science in English (PPSMI).
This is perhaps a sign that Dr Mahathir's influence over Najib is slowly waning.
Najib today said discarding the PPSMI, a programme Dr Mahathir introduced when he was prime minister, was a sound decision in light of its failed objectives.
The prime minister reasoned that although the government will discontinue the programme, its objectives will remain.
"Its spirit and objectives remain the same, we are just changing the approach," he told a press conference at his office here.
He said the government has introduced other measures to improve the standard of English among the country's students through the employment of quality teachers.
Currently, out of the more than 30,000 English teachers nationwide, the prime minister said only eight per cent were confident enough to carry out the PPSMI.
Dr Mahathir yesterday contradicted Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin's claim that the former premier had agreed with the decision to scrap PPSMI.
He claimed that his views had not been taken into consideration and that Muhyiddin had only "briefed" him on the matter. He said that the decision to scrap PPSMI would affect the future generation greatly.
Najib, however, said that the fact that the government is considering making English a compulsory pass subject reflects its seriousness in the matter.
"We can achieve the same objectives if we increase contact hours in English teaching so that students can become confident in other subjects," he said, adding that the government is considering increasing English teaching time in schools soon.
Comments (33)
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written by Jack, July 09, 2009
written by Jack, July 09, 2009
Most if not all of the top politicians' children are sent to overseas private schools anyway, so it won't affect them. Easy to decide then.
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written by ZAK, July 09, 2009
written by ZAK, July 09, 2009
Najib defends scrapping PPSMI, ignores Dr M....
The government got it all wrong. You don't use the teaching of maths and science to learn english. You use english for the teaching of maths and science. And you use english for the teaching of english.
Tun Mahathir's idea is not the english language per se. It is the importance of teaching and learning maths and science in english. The main problem is that the majority of teachers who have been following and getting their entire education in Bahasa Malaysia were assigned to teach maths and science in english. Of course these teachers have problems in teaching the subjects.
If the government is prepared to employ foreigners to teach english, why aren't the government be prepared to employ foreigners or even retired teachers to teach maths and science in english. The future cost for the present children is too high for the government to ignore in term of employment and acquisition of knowledge.
The government should reconsider doing away with PPSMI for the sake of the children and future generation.
The government got it all wrong. You don't use the teaching of maths and science to learn english. You use english for the teaching of maths and science. And you use english for the teaching of english.
Tun Mahathir's idea is not the english language per se. It is the importance of teaching and learning maths and science in english. The main problem is that the majority of teachers who have been following and getting their entire education in Bahasa Malaysia were assigned to teach maths and science in english. Of course these teachers have problems in teaching the subjects.
If the government is prepared to employ foreigners to teach english, why aren't the government be prepared to employ foreigners or even retired teachers to teach maths and science in english. The future cost for the present children is too high for the government to ignore in term of employment and acquisition of knowledge.
The government should reconsider doing away with PPSMI for the sake of the children and future generation.
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written by olek skilgannon, July 09, 2009
written by olek skilgannon, July 09, 2009
This was to be expected. The PM had to throw a sop to those quarters who have voiced unhappiness over the liberalisation measures announced over the past several weeks.
The PM should have been brave enough to acknowledge that he was educated in the English medium in secondary school in KL and in university in the UK. So, too, was his brother who is now the CEO of CIMB Bank.
This announcement will result in a 2-tier education system in the country. Rich Malaysians will send their kids to study in international schools or overseas from their early years. Middle-class Malaysians will scrimp and save to give their kids an English-based education, either locally or overseas. Expect more Malaysian kids to start studying in Singapore schools from Primary One onwards.
As for lower-income Malaysians, their kids will have to make do with the national education system or the vernacular schools.
Is this equitable? Where is the equality of opportunity for our children if they are to go through different education systems and in an environment where fluency in English is mandatory for a good job in the manufacturing and services sectors?
The government, as usual, did this in a knee-jerk fashion without carefully thinking through all the possible implications. As they have done in so many other things. Like the Johor Bahru CIQ facility for instance.......
The least I would expect of the government now is to announce a systematic programme to start teaching English as a compulsory subject from pre-school onwards through kindergarten, primary and secondary school up to polytechnic and university level. This includes the recruitment and training of English teachers, the acquisition of teaching aids and the necessary software. A satisfactory pass in English should be a pre-condition for promotion to higher classes.
To do anything less would be to shortchange our children in the name of political expediency and ersatz nationalism. The country will be the long-term loser.
The PM should have been brave enough to acknowledge that he was educated in the English medium in secondary school in KL and in university in the UK. So, too, was his brother who is now the CEO of CIMB Bank.
This announcement will result in a 2-tier education system in the country. Rich Malaysians will send their kids to study in international schools or overseas from their early years. Middle-class Malaysians will scrimp and save to give their kids an English-based education, either locally or overseas. Expect more Malaysian kids to start studying in Singapore schools from Primary One onwards.
As for lower-income Malaysians, their kids will have to make do with the national education system or the vernacular schools.
Is this equitable? Where is the equality of opportunity for our children if they are to go through different education systems and in an environment where fluency in English is mandatory for a good job in the manufacturing and services sectors?
The government, as usual, did this in a knee-jerk fashion without carefully thinking through all the possible implications. As they have done in so many other things. Like the Johor Bahru CIQ facility for instance.......
The least I would expect of the government now is to announce a systematic programme to start teaching English as a compulsory subject from pre-school onwards through kindergarten, primary and secondary school up to polytechnic and university level. This includes the recruitment and training of English teachers, the acquisition of teaching aids and the necessary software. A satisfactory pass in English should be a pre-condition for promotion to higher classes.
To do anything less would be to shortchange our children in the name of political expediency and ersatz nationalism. The country will be the long-term loser.
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written by Utusan ummmNO, July 09, 2009
written by Utusan ummmNO, July 09, 2009
Its all part of UMNO/MCA's grand masterplan to divide, rule and lord over commoner rakyat Malaysia!
Corrupted UMNO and MCA are grooming their kids with elite English education to be future "Tuan" to lord over 2nd-class educated ordinary rakyat!
Wawasan Malap 2020.
Just my 2 sen worth of hypothesis.
Corrupted UMNO and MCA are grooming their kids with elite English education to be future "Tuan" to lord over 2nd-class educated ordinary rakyat!
Wawasan Malap 2020.
Just my 2 sen worth of hypothesis.
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written by m'sian, July 09, 2009
written by m'sian, July 09, 2009
what is there to explain as a leader of a nation???? this happens cuz u can't even think and act right.... what a crooked piece of shit u r...... TDM's wish of crooked bridge is well represent u umno monkeys......
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written by Utusan ummmNO, July 09, 2009
written by Utusan ummmNO, July 09, 2009
Wawasan Malap 2020...
Its all part of UMNO/MCA's grand masterplan to divide, rule and lord over commoner rakyat Malaysia!
Corrupted UMNO and MCA are grooming their kids with elite English education to be future "Tuan" to lord over 2nd-class educated ordinary rakyat!
Just my 2 sen worth of hypothesis.
Its all part of UMNO/MCA's grand masterplan to divide, rule and lord over commoner rakyat Malaysia!
Corrupted UMNO and MCA are grooming their kids with elite English education to be future "Tuan" to lord over 2nd-class educated ordinary rakyat!
Just my 2 sen worth of hypothesis.
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written by Nick, July 09, 2009
written by Nick, July 09, 2009
When the DPM was appointed to head the education Ministry, I remembered reading that he wanted more time and to listen to more arguments before making a recommendation over this matter. But suddenly, without much open debate, he convinced the Cabinet to vote. Let me ask, was there ever a public poll over this issue? Why can't we have a referendum over this matter? Was there even one open debate on TV between the pros and the cons lobby? Is our cabinet staffed with intellectuals able to digest and openly debate on critical issues? Name one of them. I think I now understood what 1Malaysia meant. It means to make our children ignorant and subservient to their future political masters. By cutting them away from the global stage, our folks will be easily tamed and led like cows and buffaloes. Stupid BN!
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written by Ng, July 09, 2009
written by Ng, July 09, 2009
"A thousand mile journey begin with the 1st step" We have taken that 1st step 6 years ago and probably had walk a few hundred steps toward our objective. Although we are not there yet but we are should be nearer and will definitely reached our distination if we do not just give up. Looks like we are now back to square one i.e back to the starting point. This is similar to the "BN corrupted policy" Everyone wants to be rich immediately and not prepared to work for it. Sometimes we can only reap the fruits after many2 years of hard work. How can we see immediate success when the government acknowledge that we do not have competants teachers to teach. We should let the next generation of teachers who started on this policy to continue as they are one who will be better off with their english. Here goes our childrens future education......damn BN!
Ng
Ng
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written by CheTek, July 09, 2009
written by CheTek, July 09, 2009
Simple Issue Made Hard By No Brains Ministry
You do not need to have English in Maths and Science. Mastering English proficiency is enough! Maths and Science are only terms. What the big fuss. You need to know English to do simple 1+1 or calculus?
If you feel that English is not important, then don't send your child to attend English. As simple as that. As far as I know, those BN ministers sons or daughters go to INTERNATIONAL school and know English.
So don't let your child blame you when they cannot compete, go overseas for further studies or find a job in the private sector.
Make it an Option. If you feel not necessary then choose not to know English. But the education system must provide Option for English and good teachers/system. Be it Kampong or City, actually it does not matter. What matter is wheter you want your child to be knowlegeable and have good education.
You do not need to have English in Maths and Science. Mastering English proficiency is enough! Maths and Science are only terms. What the big fuss. You need to know English to do simple 1+1 or calculus?
If you feel that English is not important, then don't send your child to attend English. As simple as that. As far as I know, those BN ministers sons or daughters go to INTERNATIONAL school and know English.
So don't let your child blame you when they cannot compete, go overseas for further studies or find a job in the private sector.
Make it an Option. If you feel not necessary then choose not to know English. But the education system must provide Option for English and good teachers/system. Be it Kampong or City, actually it does not matter. What matter is wheter you want your child to be knowlegeable and have good education.
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written by Joel C, July 09, 2009
written by Joel C, July 09, 2009
"Currently, out of the more than 30,000 English teachers nationwide, the prime minister said only eight per cent were confident enough to carry out the PPSMI."
If this is truly the case, then the other 92% of the English teachers should be disqualified from teaching as they themselves being English teachers are not confident enough to carry out the PPSMI! Can you imagine that our children are learning English from a bunch of half-baked teachers?
"Najib, however, said that the fact that the government is considering making English a compulsory pass subject reflects its seriousness in the matter."
This proposal will eventually go down the drain as there will be groups of 'academicians' who would argue against it to protect certain groups of people. If English is made a compulsory subject to pass, I assure you, failure rates for public exams will be high, especially among students from rural areas - whom we are trying so hard to protect!
"We can achieve the same objectives if we increase contact hours in English teaching so that students can become confident in other subjects," he said, adding that the government is considering increasing English teaching time in schools soon."
If this is true, then Tun M have committed a grave mistake by not doing this six years ago! He should have just increased the hours of teaching of English instead of turning the teachers and students into guinea pigs! It's all Tun M's fault!
If this is truly the case, then the other 92% of the English teachers should be disqualified from teaching as they themselves being English teachers are not confident enough to carry out the PPSMI! Can you imagine that our children are learning English from a bunch of half-baked teachers?
"Najib, however, said that the fact that the government is considering making English a compulsory pass subject reflects its seriousness in the matter."
This proposal will eventually go down the drain as there will be groups of 'academicians' who would argue against it to protect certain groups of people. If English is made a compulsory subject to pass, I assure you, failure rates for public exams will be high, especially among students from rural areas - whom we are trying so hard to protect!
"We can achieve the same objectives if we increase contact hours in English teaching so that students can become confident in other subjects," he said, adding that the government is considering increasing English teaching time in schools soon."
If this is true, then Tun M have committed a grave mistake by not doing this six years ago! He should have just increased the hours of teaching of English instead of turning the teachers and students into guinea pigs! It's all Tun M's fault!
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written by Trigem, July 09, 2009
written by Trigem, July 09, 2009
Stupid decision. BH idiots simply do not know to make the right decision for the people anymore. On this issue, I think most people do not support Anwar who called for abolishing English for S&M.
I bet all the ministers will start sending their kids overseas because of this policy change, leaving the deluded poor to believe that the government was right with the decision. Language is a subject that is difficult to master. One must immerse in the study intensely for a period of time -- at least a year or more -- without interference before one can really master it well. This explains why so many Chinese but English speaking families are struggling with their children to learn Chinese at schools. Most of them gave up half way as far as I know.
Do you seriously think that adding a couple more hours a day studying English will help? Besides, what exactly the people are going to study for without a topic such as science and maths?
I bet all the ministers will start sending their kids overseas because of this policy change, leaving the deluded poor to believe that the government was right with the decision. Language is a subject that is difficult to master. One must immerse in the study intensely for a period of time -- at least a year or more -- without interference before one can really master it well. This explains why so many Chinese but English speaking families are struggling with their children to learn Chinese at schools. Most of them gave up half way as far as I know.
Do you seriously think that adding a couple more hours a day studying English will help? Besides, what exactly the people are going to study for without a topic such as science and maths?
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written by rahman izan, July 09, 2009
written by rahman izan, July 09, 2009
Can the government give the children an option..? If the government can allow them to do Maths and Science in Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese or Tamil, why can't the government give them one more option i.e. to do it in English. Maybe the urban schools can do it English since majority of the urban people prefer English and the rural areas can carry on with Bahasa Malaysia. I think that's only fair to everybody.
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written by wkc, July 09, 2009
written by wkc, July 09, 2009
Mr PM, be your own man. Take credit for what you achieve and the blame when you fail. You need to account only to the rakyat not some senile old tyrant who single handedly destroyed the fabric of good proper governance in this country.
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written by rini, July 09, 2009
written by rini, July 09, 2009
Najib - Implelement it ! Dont just talk. Get as many English teachers possible. If it has to be imported..so be it ! Think of the future generations that will lose more than gain. Am worried the malays are digging their own graves. As it is now more malays can be seen at Dataran Merdeka and every shopping complexes in the country just ' lepaking ' and 99.9 percent of Mat Rempits are Malays. If ever there is a rock concert by Search, Wings, etc..only Malays by the thousands are attending it. Even Jom heboh are being patronised by 99 percent Malays. The Utusan Malaysia provide not lest than 3 pages solely for entertainments so that the Malays will be in Dreamland and Neverland.
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written by Phua Chu Kang, July 09, 2009
written by Phua Chu Kang, July 09, 2009
Zimbabwe here we come!
Malaysia has been exporting cheap semi-educated labour for the past few decades, now Malaysia will improve upon this and export cheap uneducated labour.
Yes, yes I am harsh. But ask yourselves, Malaysia has always played the part of cheap factory workers. So who can we call ourselve an full educated labour force.
Malaysia has been exporting cheap semi-educated labour for the past few decades, now Malaysia will improve upon this and export cheap uneducated labour.
Yes, yes I am harsh. But ask yourselves, Malaysia has always played the part of cheap factory workers. So who can we call ourselve an full educated labour force.
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written by mahasitua, July 09, 2009
written by mahasitua, July 09, 2009
I had a 8 year old daughter (who had her Primary One education in Singapore ) pointing out to her English teacher in Standard 2 in a Malaysian school the grammatical errors the English teacher made in her English lessons .
This is the standard of English that we have .
Today the Education Minister champion the use of BM in the teaching of Maths and Science solely for one reason : to get the support for the Manik Urai bye - election - even though he vehemently denied that there is no political agenda in his decision to revert to BM .
This is a very wrong move. First BN will lose their underwear in the Manik Urai bye election to PAS. People are already fed up with their flip flop policies and the side line the role of English as a medium of instruction for science and maths subjects.
Secondly, BN will lose it big in the next GE because the rakyat is already fed up with the BN government to drop English as the medium of instruction for science and maths subjects.
Judging from the feedback on the blogs and other e media, the rakyat want the teaching of maths and science in English to be continued. If they can't get the current government to approve what the rakyat want, the solution is very simple. Vote the current BN government out and replace with a government that will listen to the rakyat and give what the rakyat want.
Tan Sri Muhyiddin : - good luck to you .
This is the standard of English that we have .
Today the Education Minister champion the use of BM in the teaching of Maths and Science solely for one reason : to get the support for the Manik Urai bye - election - even though he vehemently denied that there is no political agenda in his decision to revert to BM .
This is a very wrong move. First BN will lose their underwear in the Manik Urai bye election to PAS. People are already fed up with their flip flop policies and the side line the role of English as a medium of instruction for science and maths subjects.
Secondly, BN will lose it big in the next GE because the rakyat is already fed up with the BN government to drop English as the medium of instruction for science and maths subjects.
Judging from the feedback on the blogs and other e media, the rakyat want the teaching of maths and science in English to be continued. If they can't get the current government to approve what the rakyat want, the solution is very simple. Vote the current BN government out and replace with a government that will listen to the rakyat and give what the rakyat want.
Tan Sri Muhyiddin : - good luck to you .
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written by nuggets, July 09, 2009
written by nuggets, July 09, 2009
stop taking the easy way out. stop blaming the english language for the lack of marked improvement in the results. stop being typical lazy bones who are not willing to strive and take comfort in the easier path.
BM is not my mother tongue. i went to school, learnt the language, studied Maths and Science in BM and acheived As.
why cant the students whose mother tongue is not english do the same?
BM is not my mother tongue. i went to school, learnt the language, studied Maths and Science in BM and acheived As.
why cant the students whose mother tongue is not english do the same?
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written by mustapha ong, July 09, 2009
written by mustapha ong, July 09, 2009
If those who are against the government's decision to scrap the teaching of Maths and Science in ENGLISH GRADUALLY FROM 2012, I think they had missed the underlined criteria of the government to review the burning issue of the subject matter. We should admit that although the initial proposal by former PM Tun Mahathir for the teaching the two important subjects in English some 6 years ago, was thought to be idealistic and sensible had not shown any positive or significant result. In a nutshell, the proposal had failed miserably as proven by the number of those who had passed the two subjects at SPM level. over the last few years.
The issue is not about PM Najib who had defied Tun Mahathir's advice to continue the teaching of maths and science in English which had offended Tun himself. PM Najib had today clarified further the Cabinet's decision to discontinue the teaching of maths and science in English after lots of research and resource thinking into the important issue of public interest. It is of prime important that critics should really understand the objective of the government that " the standard of English will not improve with the teaching of the two core subjects in English, and therefore the government is forced to review its policy effective from 2012. There is still almost 3 years from now for those to backtrack their mind set to study maths and science in BM.
As an immediate measure, the government is committed to improve the teaching of English as a compulsory subject and hopefully in 3 years' time, our future students will successfully maintain a better or higher standard of the English language. We should not worry about the fact that our kids will not catch up or perform well in maths and science to be taught in BM after 2012.
I wish to ask all parents concerned, whether they are Malay, Chinese, Indian or others if they are really concerned or worried that the children will do badly in maths and science, if the subjects are being taught in BM? The true answer is NO, but they are more worried if their children are not being given the opportunity to learn and improve the standard of English in the coming years. That is a fact in our mind as parents and thus we should be happy that the government had revert this important part of the education policy, i.e to discontinue the teaching of maths and science (in English) after 2012 and to drastically improve the teaching of the English language as a core and compulsory subject.
I am nobody to support PM Najib in this issue, but I believe that there are thousands of concerned parents who will see the bigger picture in supporting the current review of the government's education policy. Dato' Sri Najib, please do not compromise in the matter, as this will be the last time we allow the flip-flop of the sensitive issue being debated. We should move our new education policy forward so as to ensure a better future for our children.
The issue is not about PM Najib who had defied Tun Mahathir's advice to continue the teaching of maths and science in English which had offended Tun himself. PM Najib had today clarified further the Cabinet's decision to discontinue the teaching of maths and science in English after lots of research and resource thinking into the important issue of public interest. It is of prime important that critics should really understand the objective of the government that " the standard of English will not improve with the teaching of the two core subjects in English, and therefore the government is forced to review its policy effective from 2012. There is still almost 3 years from now for those to backtrack their mind set to study maths and science in BM.
As an immediate measure, the government is committed to improve the teaching of English as a compulsory subject and hopefully in 3 years' time, our future students will successfully maintain a better or higher standard of the English language. We should not worry about the fact that our kids will not catch up or perform well in maths and science to be taught in BM after 2012.
I wish to ask all parents concerned, whether they are Malay, Chinese, Indian or others if they are really concerned or worried that the children will do badly in maths and science, if the subjects are being taught in BM? The true answer is NO, but they are more worried if their children are not being given the opportunity to learn and improve the standard of English in the coming years. That is a fact in our mind as parents and thus we should be happy that the government had revert this important part of the education policy, i.e to discontinue the teaching of maths and science (in English) after 2012 and to drastically improve the teaching of the English language as a core and compulsory subject.
I am nobody to support PM Najib in this issue, but I believe that there are thousands of concerned parents who will see the bigger picture in supporting the current review of the government's education policy. Dato' Sri Najib, please do not compromise in the matter, as this will be the last time we allow the flip-flop of the sensitive issue being debated. We should move our new education policy forward so as to ensure a better future for our children.
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written by Ah Lim, July 09, 2009
written by Ah Lim, July 09, 2009
While the Malaysian cost of living is going up trend and the economy turun bukit, our beloved government has nothing better to do but play play with the education policy thus making life very confusing for our children. I suppose adults should not decide for our children now. Best way is to call for undi among the children themselves and let them decide. Its their future!
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written by Lula, July 09, 2009
written by Lula, July 09, 2009
To go against Dr. M was not a wise move! He will not tolerate this quietly! Thats for sure!
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written by Ken, July 09, 2009
written by Ken, July 09, 2009
ok la,.. i think the busiest people will be the Dewan Bahasa.. they need to start introduce more INGLISH words..
Komputer and Internet ? is Bahasa Ibunda.. pertahankan martabat Bahasa Melayu ?
I think some pro bm who wrote books... wonder how many 'Ingerris' word they use in their book ?
Komputer and Internet ? is Bahasa Ibunda.. pertahankan martabat Bahasa Melayu ?
I think some pro bm who wrote books... wonder how many 'Ingerris' word they use in their book ?
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written by Hang Tuah 1, July 09, 2009
written by Hang Tuah 1, July 09, 2009
Mustapha Ong -
Are you the personal advisor to PM Najib?
Are you the one PM Najib wants to be appointed at director in Petronas??
Are you the one who defaulted in your scholarship loan???
You are the mouthpiece for PM Najib and his policy to revert Science and Maths back to BM.
You went against Tun Dr Mahathir and that his policy failed.
You mentioned about about students' poor performances on these two important subjects.
Can you tell why it failed???
What are the remedies???
To say that these students did badly because they were taught in English -
I think it is over-simplistic, too shallow coming from one who is a consultant to PM Najib...if you are one.
The problem is that teachers are not qualified -
the cure should be qualify the teachers then.
Recuit teachers who can teach in English - and not one whose attitude is negative.
You said the standard of English will not improve if these two subjects are taught in English -
Another over-simplistic view -
Not sure how you can substantiate such statement - by merely bulldozing.
If your idea does hold water, we can then argue the same - the standard of BM will not improve if these two subjects are taught in BM.
You said much research has gone into this - much resource thinking and whatnots -
Let us reason: on one hand you have 30 years (1970s to 2002) - these subjects taught in BM; and on other hand you have six years (2003 to 2009) - these subjects taught in English.
I think one can do better research with 30 years (BM) - conclusion: our university graduates during this period could not compete with international graduates (English).
Science and Maths - you cannot deny that out of these subjects you have engineering, medicine, computer, etc - if one can only read these books in BM, they will find most of these books and journals written in English - so you need to translate them into BM - you see they don't read the primary sources.
You asked about the parents -
I want to ask PM Najib - where does he send his children for education????
How about you???
How about all the cabinet members???
If you read the comments by MI readers, you can feel where the majority of the parents stand.
Merdeka Center did a survey - the polls suggest majority (58 per cent) want Sc and Mths to be taught in English.
I think your presumtion is wrong.
The best solution would be:
Primary schools use mother tongue.
Secondary and University levels - English shld be the medium for Science and Maths.
MI Readers, do you agree???
Kindly vote here.
Are you the personal advisor to PM Najib?
Are you the one PM Najib wants to be appointed at director in Petronas??
Are you the one who defaulted in your scholarship loan???
You are the mouthpiece for PM Najib and his policy to revert Science and Maths back to BM.
You went against Tun Dr Mahathir and that his policy failed.
You mentioned about about students' poor performances on these two important subjects.
Can you tell why it failed???
What are the remedies???
To say that these students did badly because they were taught in English -
I think it is over-simplistic, too shallow coming from one who is a consultant to PM Najib...if you are one.
The problem is that teachers are not qualified -
the cure should be qualify the teachers then.
Recuit teachers who can teach in English - and not one whose attitude is negative.
You said the standard of English will not improve if these two subjects are taught in English -
Another over-simplistic view -
Not sure how you can substantiate such statement - by merely bulldozing.
If your idea does hold water, we can then argue the same - the standard of BM will not improve if these two subjects are taught in BM.
You said much research has gone into this - much resource thinking and whatnots -
Let us reason: on one hand you have 30 years (1970s to 2002) - these subjects taught in BM; and on other hand you have six years (2003 to 2009) - these subjects taught in English.
I think one can do better research with 30 years (BM) - conclusion: our university graduates during this period could not compete with international graduates (English).
Science and Maths - you cannot deny that out of these subjects you have engineering, medicine, computer, etc - if one can only read these books in BM, they will find most of these books and journals written in English - so you need to translate them into BM - you see they don't read the primary sources.
You asked about the parents -
I want to ask PM Najib - where does he send his children for education????
How about you???
How about all the cabinet members???
If you read the comments by MI readers, you can feel where the majority of the parents stand.
Merdeka Center did a survey - the polls suggest majority (58 per cent) want Sc and Mths to be taught in English.
I think your presumtion is wrong.
The best solution would be:
Primary schools use mother tongue.
Secondary and University levels - English shld be the medium for Science and Maths.
MI Readers, do you agree???
Kindly vote here.
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written by It's OK, July 09, 2009
written by It's OK, July 09, 2009
Najib you did right this time, no need to give a sh1t about what this ex-feller think. You are right to just ignore him. He is not bothered about the welfare of the raykat. He is more concern about his ego and runs amok if people change his policies like the crooked bridge.
Best way to improve English is to follow Singapore, no need to reinvent the wheel or some fancy crap like teaching some subjects in English. It won't improve language or scientific skills.
Best way to improve English is to follow Singapore, no need to reinvent the wheel or some fancy crap like teaching some subjects in English. It won't improve language or scientific skills.
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written by medusa, July 09, 2009
written by medusa, July 09, 2009
Desition to change the teaching of maths and science from English back toBM.
A desition made by a bunch of very stupid people. My son was taught physics in Bm. He could not understand head or tail what the teacher was talking about. I gave him the physics book Physics by Nelkon that I used for my Cambridge O level to read. After reading the book he said: physics is not so difficult if it is taught in English.
Good luck malaysia. If Malaysia wants to progress politicians must have the political will to what is right for the people. Looks like we have more flip-flop policies coming. God save malaysia
A desition made by a bunch of very stupid people. My son was taught physics in Bm. He could not understand head or tail what the teacher was talking about. I gave him the physics book Physics by Nelkon that I used for my Cambridge O level to read. After reading the book he said: physics is not so difficult if it is taught in English.
Good luck malaysia. If Malaysia wants to progress politicians must have the political will to what is right for the people. Looks like we have more flip-flop policies coming. God save malaysia
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written by It's OK, July 09, 2009
written by It's OK, July 09, 2009
Has anyone even bothered consultanting and discussing this important issue with the students themselves?
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written by change28, July 10, 2009
written by change28, July 10, 2009
Those we should have sympathy for are the Malays, both rural and urban.
Imagine how they feel with a Government that constantly tells and reminds them that they are not good enough to learn more than their own mother tongue and are always unable to compete on a level playing field.
And yet, the average Malay cannot seem to see where all the Ministers send the children to study. Can it be that the children of the ruling elite are all smarter and of higher ability than that of the average Malay?
Imagine how they feel with a Government that constantly tells and reminds them that they are not good enough to learn more than their own mother tongue and are always unable to compete on a level playing field.
And yet, the average Malay cannot seem to see where all the Ministers send the children to study. Can it be that the children of the ruling elite are all smarter and of higher ability than that of the average Malay?
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written by shamsul, July 10, 2009
written by shamsul, July 10, 2009
Back to the stone age. Without English where can you go outside of this country,except maybe Indonesia.
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written by SHEIKH-ALWI, July 10, 2009
written by SHEIKH-ALWI, July 10, 2009
Japan proud of their Language, Deutch, french. they are so proud of their language. people achive because they're intelligent not because they know english. malaysia sent our student to entire world for study. but the main thing that our student need to learn first is their language. why??? if people thought that PPSMI can promise a good life. it's up to them. for me eventhore i'm working with American company the first thing that superior need is my expertise in communicate mostly in local language.
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written by Hang Tuah 1, July 10, 2009
written by Hang Tuah 1, July 10, 2009
Dear Sheikh-Alwi,
I agree with you that we should be proud of our own mother tongue.
And we should be proud of our national language, Bahasa Melayu.
Japanese are proud of their national language.
Dutch, French - blah blah blah.
However, the discussion is not about mother tongue or national language.
One can learn Bahasa if it is taught as a language,
and one does not learn Bahasa by learning it in Science and Maths.
Tun Mahathir has argued clearly -
It is not the main point that we learn English by learning it in Science and Maths...
But these two subjects are very technical.
Virtually everyday, new technical words are created.
And new scientific discoveries are written a lot in English.
Whether in Engineering or in Medicine -
These concepts are largely written in English.
In Malaysia, these text books are translated mainly from English source.
Though Japanese have been writing new discoveries in Japanese -
But Malaysians don't translate Japanese journals into Bahasa.
Neither do Malaysians translate books in French or in Dutch into Bahasa.
One has to agree - much of our scientific books are sourced from America or UK or Australia -
and they are all in English...
So the point Tun Mahathir is making is this:
If we can read from primary sources,
why we want to read in translation???
Take a look at our Science books or Computer -
You will see the technical terms are translated into BM - and many of these words sound like English with different spellings...otherwise these new scientific terms in BM sound aliens to our grandmother, even she is a Malay.
Think of words like Oxygen or Carbon Dioxide - and look at Malay translation.
Japanese are way ahead of us...
Their university professors are writing books based on their own research.
They don't depend on the West for all the informations.
Our university professors could hardly produce anything original in Bahasa.
In fact one reason for low rating for our local universities is that our professors don't publish any of the works in international journals. Even our professors are reading books published in English.
For 30 years in BM, yet our Proton engineers till today with so much learning from Japanese - they cannot design our own local engines for Proton. Proton depends on Lotus engineers.
So, we don't compare with Japanese. They are totally different breed lah.
The best comparison will be with Singapore -
Singapore and Malaysia very similar in many ways -
Yet today Singapore are miles ahead of us in Science and Maths.
Remember, Singaporeans can speak their mother tongue very well.
yet they do very well in these two subjects - in English.
And English is not their mother tongue.
And Singaporeans are still proud of their mother tongue and do well in English.
So, the issue is not about pride in your mother tongue or local language.
It is about been competitive in a global world fast shrinking.
I agree with you that we should be proud of our own mother tongue.
And we should be proud of our national language, Bahasa Melayu.
Japanese are proud of their national language.
Dutch, French - blah blah blah.
However, the discussion is not about mother tongue or national language.
One can learn Bahasa if it is taught as a language,
and one does not learn Bahasa by learning it in Science and Maths.
Tun Mahathir has argued clearly -
It is not the main point that we learn English by learning it in Science and Maths...
But these two subjects are very technical.
Virtually everyday, new technical words are created.
And new scientific discoveries are written a lot in English.
Whether in Engineering or in Medicine -
These concepts are largely written in English.
In Malaysia, these text books are translated mainly from English source.
Though Japanese have been writing new discoveries in Japanese -
But Malaysians don't translate Japanese journals into Bahasa.
Neither do Malaysians translate books in French or in Dutch into Bahasa.
One has to agree - much of our scientific books are sourced from America or UK or Australia -
and they are all in English...
So the point Tun Mahathir is making is this:
If we can read from primary sources,
why we want to read in translation???
Take a look at our Science books or Computer -
You will see the technical terms are translated into BM - and many of these words sound like English with different spellings...otherwise these new scientific terms in BM sound aliens to our grandmother, even she is a Malay.
Think of words like Oxygen or Carbon Dioxide - and look at Malay translation.
Japanese are way ahead of us...
Their university professors are writing books based on their own research.
They don't depend on the West for all the informations.
Our university professors could hardly produce anything original in Bahasa.
In fact one reason for low rating for our local universities is that our professors don't publish any of the works in international journals. Even our professors are reading books published in English.
For 30 years in BM, yet our Proton engineers till today with so much learning from Japanese - they cannot design our own local engines for Proton. Proton depends on Lotus engineers.
So, we don't compare with Japanese. They are totally different breed lah.
The best comparison will be with Singapore -
Singapore and Malaysia very similar in many ways -
Yet today Singapore are miles ahead of us in Science and Maths.
Remember, Singaporeans can speak their mother tongue very well.
yet they do very well in these two subjects - in English.
And English is not their mother tongue.
And Singaporeans are still proud of their mother tongue and do well in English.
So, the issue is not about pride in your mother tongue or local language.
It is about been competitive in a global world fast shrinking.
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written by butter_gurl@thatchu, July 20, 2009
written by butter_gurl@thatchu, July 20, 2009
is the ministery a fool. y they didnt think about the future generations first. they are the one who is becoming the prey now. pity them lah.cant u guys juz follow the globalised era. everything and everywhere english is important.juz leave the other contries like japan ect. what is goin to happen to WAWASAN 2020 program. Will we be able to archive that if u guys are doin this to the future generation. . the malaysian government has the worst educational system in this world lah. i suggest that it is better not better but the best if u change it back into english for the future generations
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written by nella, July 24, 2009
written by nella, July 24, 2009
i totally disagree with the decision of reverting back science & math teaching in Bm.I dont know what this bunch of irrational people thinking about. How can Malaysia move forward if we having this kind of people rule our country?Their reasons are simply. Firstly, to ensure that our mother tongue languange namely BM will not vanish. Secondly, to help the rural sudents. These reasons are really nonsense. We only use English in math, sn & English Language itself. The rest, still in Bm. And about the rural students, do we want them being leave behind by the urban students? Actually, Learning these subjects in english help them a lot. i am also from rural area. and i admit that my english is not that good but i am will learn as long as i have the change. So are they. actually, we just need to polish the teachers. thats all. what a waste if we start again from zero after spending money just like water for this project. think carefully.
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Perhaps ,according to your "blue ocean" strategy, you have identified the business of providing a cheap source of uneducated laborers as a niche market for Malaysia to excel in?