However, the practical reservations voiced by the National Union of Teaching Profession (NUTP) and the West Malaysia Malay Teachers Association that there were not enough preparations for implementing the decision and that teaching facilities were lacking, especially in rural areas, should be fully taken into account by the education authorities.
As the Director-General of Education Abdul Rafie Mahat claims that an extensive study had been made by the Central Curriculum Committee, Education Planning Committee and the Cabinet before a final decision was taken by the government, it is most surprising that the NUTP and the West Malaysia Malay Teachers Association were not involved in any way whether in consultation or preparation in the decision-making process.
The time has come for the government to change its modus operandi in the decision-making process, changing it from a secretive and arbitrary to an open, democratic and consultative process - as there can be no excuse for the decision to introduce science as a subject for year one pupils without involving the teachers and their representative organisations at all.
As a result, a good decision can be spoilt by the deplorable decision-making process even before any implementation.
To remedy the defect in the decision-making process with regard to introducing science as a subject for year one pupils, the Education Ministry should make public all the relevant documents, studies and papers connected with the issue so that these information are made available to the teachers as well as parents and the community at large.
There can be no dispute that there is an urgent need to find a solution to the poor attainment of science and mathematics subjects especially among bumiputra students as all efforts in the past, going back to the recommendations of the 1979 Mahathir Cabinet Education Policy Implementation Review Committee Report had failed.
The seriousness of this problem can be seen from statistics from
the Education Ministry on the PMR and Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM)
results in English, science and mathematics showing that bumiputra students’
performance in these subjects trail behind non-bumiputras, which should
be a matter of national concern especially as these are critical subjects
to uplift the attainments of bumiputra students not only in the fields
of science, engineering, information technology and medicine but also in
the fields of economics, accounancy and management.
Keputusan SPM 1998, Pencapaian mengikut mata pelajaran bagi bumiputra dan bukan bumiputra
Mata Pelajaran 1&2
3-6 7-9
(Bumiputera)
Bahasa Inggeris 3.4
19.9 76.7
Mathematik
16.3 18.3
65.8
Sains
4.8 43.2
52.0
Fizik
2.6 36.8
60.6
Kimia
4.2 31.1
64.7
Biologi
4.3 39.8
55.9
Mata Pelajaran 1&2
3-6 7-9
(Bukan Bumiputera)
Bahasa Inggeris 14.9
31.7 53.4
Mathematik
41.2 19.1
39.7
Sains
9.1 34.0
56.9
Fizik
17.3 52.9
29.8
Kimia
23.0 43.5
33.5
Biologi
17.3 47.4
35.3
PMR 1997-Analysis Keputusan Mata Pelajaran Bagi Bumiptura dan Bukan Bumiputera
Bumiputera
Peringkat (Percentages)
Mata Pelajaran A
B C
D E
Bahasa Inggeris 8.2
12.3 15.5 21.8
42.2
Matematik
16.1 15.4 16.7
40.9 11.0
Sains
11.6 11.6 20.3
48.3 9.2
Bukan Bumiputera
Peringkat (Percentages)
Mata Pelajaran A
B C
D E
Bahasa Inggeris 22.6
17.6 16.6 17.5
25.7
Matematik
39.4 16.1 12.1
25.2 7.1
Sains
26.2 11.3 13.1
38.5 10.8
For these reasons, the decision to introduce science as a subject for year one should be implemented without any delay.
(16/5/2001)