Analysts see maths, science in English as formula for Pakatan’s defeat

Sheridan Mahavera Sheridan Mahavera Updated 4 years ago · Published on 2 Feb 2020 7:00AM · 10 Comments

PAKATAN Harapan will lose the 15th general election if the government makes schools teach science and mathematics in English, said analysts.

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, as acting education minister, recently said more focus would be given to teaching the two subjects in English.

Dr Mahathir did not say the government was reviving the Teaching and Learning of Science of Mathematics in English policy (popularly known by its Malay acronym PPSMI). But his remarks have resurrected the debate around PPSMI, which was first implemented when he was prime minister in 2003 in all schools, including vernacular schools.

It was abandoned in 2009 after backlash and poor implementation, including problems with teachers who were not proficient themselves in English, and students in rural areas who lagged far behind their urban counterparts in language strength.

PPSMI’s biggest opponents are also now senior members of the current cabinet and leaders of the parties which make up the PH ruling coalition, analysts observed.

Ilham Centre’s Mohd Azlan Zainal described the idea as “giving ammunition and the guns” to the opposition to attack PH

It was abandoned because it was deeply unpopular among parents, educators and school administrators, said another political analyst Prof Dr Mazlan Ali.

Studies and reports showed that students’ performance in science and maths had declined when they were forced to learn in English instead of their mother tongues, Mazlan of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) added.

“If something like PPSMI is brought back, it will spark a political polemic that is more intense than the Jawi controversy,” he said, referring to the Education Ministry’s move to introduce lessons on Jawi in vernacular schools.

“The issue will be bigger and span across all communities, not just the Chinese and Indians. Malays, Chinese and Indians will reject it.

“There will be a 100% political tsunami against the PH in GE15,” Mazlan said. 

Dr Mazlan Ali says studies found that students did worse when maths and science were taught in English. – The Malaysian Insight file pic, February 2, 2020.

Dr Mahathir’s remarks about giving more focus to the teaching of science and maths in English were made his first meeting as education minister with ministry officials recently.

He told them he wanted an increased emphasis on learning science and math in English. A video of his remarks during the meeting has been shared on his Facebook page.

Dr Mahathir did not specifically say he wanted to bring back PPSMI but he did say that: “Science and mathematics is not an indigenous field of knowledge. It comes from abroad and most of it comes to us in English and therefore we are going to use English in the teaching of science and maths.

“We want to promote the use of English and the mastery of the language in our education system. This is very important that we must give tim for learning English, in particular the learning of English in science and mathematics.”

Leaders from his coalition and the opposition have come out to condemn any plans for a return to the mandatory use of English to teach the two subjects.

Currently, certain schools in the voluntary Dual Language Programme (DL) teach science and maths in English.

Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng yesterday said there has been no cabinet decision to revive PPSMI.

PPSMI was introduced in 2003, at the tailend of  Dr Mahathir’s first stint as prime minister when he headed BN.

He reasoned that students would better understand science and maths if they were taught in English as the latest research and developments in those fields were in that language.

Critics however contend that learning them in English would add an extra burden to pupils already struggling with maths and science.

The policy was abolished in 2009 when Najib Razak became prime minister. That was a year after BN had lost its parliamentary two-thirds parliamentary majority in the 2008 general election and lost control of four states.

“Even BN decided to abolish it, so why is Pakatan trying to revive it?” UTM’s Mazlan said.

Azlan of the Ilham Centre said PPSMI would make it easier for the opposition to manipulate Malay sentiments and paint PH as anti-Malay and Islam.

“It is also a huge dilemma within PH itself because PH leaders were known to oppose PPSMI when they were in the opposition. Some of those leaders are now in the cabinet.

“This is not just an education issue. It is about language, and language is closely tied to identity and questions of race.” – February 2, 2020.

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Comments

  • It is the duty of a good government to push through unpopular policies. The government of the day must have the means to persuade and convince the masses to accept any policy that is beneficial.

    Please do what is right and not just sit back and be a votes counter. Let not we fall back to a country ruled by divisive race and religion again.

    Posted 4 years ago by Tanahair Ku · Reply

  • Teachers are supposed to be a knowledgeable lot, or they don't deserve to become teachers. Leadership by example!! If they expect students to learn, so must they. We were taught in English in the old system but suddenly overnight we were asked to study Science and Maths in Bahasa Malaysia in the university in 1973. We all came out teaching in BM in excellence without complains. The changes were overnight too, the university lecturers had to cope with teaching in BM and many struggled initially, had to get out of their comfort zone and do whatever it takes. Teachers are much better paid compared to those in the private sectors and they should be grateful. If they cannot change, they should be changed and replaced by people who can change. If there is a shortage, recall the many retired and still able teaches and they will gladly answer the clarion call of the nation: to teach and to train teachers who want to learn how to teach in Science and Maths in English. This generation who can teach in English is still around, make use of them while we still can. Just take 3-5 years and everything will be in place. The Cabinet need to do the right thing and prepare Malaysians to face global competition instead of becoming jaguh kampung. Students from private and international schools study in English and they will have a big advantage over students from national and vernacular schools.

    Posted 4 years ago by Mike Mok · Reply

  • Malay again, what is going to happen to our children been politicised again and again?

    Posted 4 years ago by MA63 SSS · Reply

  • Even BN decided to abolish it, so why is Pakatan trying to revive it? UTMs Mazlan said.
    Kangkong, it's because PH has the future of the country at heart but scUMNO only care for their political agenda and interest! scUMNO want to keep the people stupid so that they can easily manipulate them. Go and find out how many of the scUMNO morons children study in BM and publish the figure to the stupid kampong folks!

    Posted 4 years ago by Chee yee ng · Reply

  • Many politicians can't even speak well in English, they reject English for S n M. Many teachers in secondary schools don't know how to teach S n M in English, no reason for them to support English otherwise will make their life miserable. I think many English-taught citizens like us(born before 1961) can come out to help the ministry to temporary teach S n M in English in secondary schools. S n M in Chinese schools are of high standard, so no need to change at primary schools. But must have more emphasis on English language proficiency. The country will be doomed if we don't start to emphasize English capability upgrade. We can't even communicate well with outsiders, and our economy is so dependent on international trade, so local graduates with low proficiency in English cant find a good job in the market. With govt going to lower the intake if govt servants which is already bloated, local grads with limited English proficiency may end up as grab good senders. Are the Malay community ready for this? Chinese and Indian grads are much better in English and small in numbers, they will be in demand. What about local Malay grads? Be fair and just to the future generations if we really want a progressive society. Unless u choose to follow Hadi Awang.

    Posted 4 years ago by James Wong · Reply

  • Anything done in English is going to face a uphill task in Malaysian Education system because we do not have enough people who have the necessary qualifications in English to run the show in a national scale. Even in 1990s, I remember seven Kirkby trained mostly retired teachers were involved in every aspect of learning where English Language was used in the university. We even taught lecturers who required a minimum score in Toefl to further their studies in US. All these happened in a university in KL/Selangor. Imagine the huge problem when we talk about universities in remote areas. That is why UNITEN during its initial years employed American lecturers to run the language department. Many non-Malays in Malaysia are good in English, you can see them in many of the private schools.Is the Ministry of Education prepared to employ them to teach English?

    Posted 4 years ago by Citizen Pencen · Reply

  • Speaking English well will not turn a student into a good science and math student. Writing and speaking good English require a different set of skills compared to being able to do well in science and math. To improve english literacy, make sure children read and converse more in English. Science and math books are not story books but are technical in nature. Our education system is already bad. Please do not make it any worse. Do the research and examine data before taking the necessary step to improve our education system. The proposed simplistic solution that teaching science and math in English will fix our education system is shallow thinking at its best.

    Posted 4 years ago by H. Mokhtar · Reply

    • You simply ignore the fact that knowledge comes handy in English. The learners need not be conversant in English but must have sufficient skill and be given the right media to acquire knowledge.

      Posted 4 years ago by Tanahair Ku · Reply

    • I agree. There are two distinct issues here that get conflated together. The focus should be on improving English fluency regardless of subject matter. Fluency in English allows students to access knowledge beyond Math and Science. The basic principles of Math and Science can be taught effectively in non-English languages. Just look at Germany and Japan. These countries are technologically advanced in spite of learning Science and Math in English. Learning Math and Science in English is not panacea for the declining quality of our education system and its graduates.

      Posted 4 years ago by False Consciousness · Reply

    • False Consciousness, do you think Malaysia will be able to translate tonnes of scientific research work, industrial codes and standards, medical SOPs etc, all of which are already well established in English?

      Posted 4 years ago by Tanahair Ku · Reply