Will the teaching of maths and science in English result in the drop of standards in  these two subjects without substantially raising the standard of  English among the students?

(Penang,  Tuesday):  The Malaysian national education system is in the worst mess in the 44-year history of the nation.  The appointment of a non-politician and a former academician to the post of Education Minister after the 1999 general election has failed to restore confidence in the quality of the national education system as there appears to be even more “politics” under a non-politician Education Minister as illustrated by the Aku Janji pledges imposed on university academicians and students in utter disregard of the principles of academic freedom and excellence as well as  the  “politicization” of education in the Damansara Chinese Primary School and Vision School issues.  

In the past month alone, there have been three raging controversies affecting education, viz:  

• the 44,000 unemployed and unemployable graduates, most of whom are Malays and other bumiputras. Ministers say the unemployed graduates could not find gainful employment because they took up courses not suitable for the job market. A poor command of English has been cited as another possible reason why they have failed to find work  
• the continued decline in the standard of English in schools and universities undermining Malaysia’s national economy and international competitiveness.  
• the furore over the merit-based university selection system where for close to a week the Education Ministry has been unable to convince the people that the system and to formula to match matriculation results and STPM grades was not like comparing an apple to an orange but highly impartial, professional and meritorious one and that Malaysia has not created another new-fangled monster of a “merit-based system without merit’.  

The Education Ministry has not acquitted itself creditably in all these three raging controversies.

The Government, and in particular UMNO, lack  the political will to take drastic measures to check the 30-year decline in  the standard of English in Malaysia.  

On 6^th May, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad announced that the government was willing to re-introduce the English-medium school system to arrest the decline of the standard of English “if the people want it”.    

On 8^th May, Mahathir said the Cabinet  had at its weekly Wednesday meeting the day before discussed the re-introduction of the English-medium school system to arrest the decline in the subject, but it was not discussed at length as “we want to hear what the people have to say on the subject” and that the government was serious about getting public reaction on the issue.    

On 10^th May, Mahathir said the UMNO supreme council at its three-hour meeting had decided that it was unnecessary to re-introduce the English-medium school system and proposed instead that science and mathematics be taught in English starting from Standard One.    

On 11^th May, the Education Minister Tan Sri Musa Mohamad confirmed that science and mathematics will be taught in English and said a committee had been set up under the Education director-general Datuk Abdul Rafie Mahat to determine how and when it could be implemented.  

The Deputy Education Minister, Datuk Abdul Aziz Shamsuddin said on the same day that the Education Ministry was prepared to begin translating into English the science and mathematics textbooks for Standard One pupils.  

Four pertinent  questions arise from this chronology of events:  

• Is this another example that government in Malaysia is not by the Cabinet or the Barisan Nasional but solely by the UMNO Supreme Council, which could override or usurp the powers of the Cabinet on policy decisions – as superseding the 48-hour Cabinet decision to seek public feedback on whether to re-introduce English-medium school system.  

• Is  the UMNO Supreme Council proposal that science and mathematics be taught in English as soon as possible starting from Standard One “instant government policy” to the extent that it is implemented immediately with the appointment of a special committee and the translation of textbooks – even without any Cabinet decision?  

• Are the non-UMNO Ministers in Cabinet, whether from MCA, Gerakan, MIC or  SUPP just completely irrelevant on basic policy formulations and decision-making – like the declaration by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad on September 29 last year that Malaysia is an Islamic state (the “929 declaration”)?  

• Most important of all, have all the educational aspects of the UMNO Supreme Council proposal/instant- government- policy been fully studied first to ensure that the teaching of maths and science in English will not result in the drop of standards in  these two subjects without substantially raising the standard of  English among the students?

The UMNO Supreme Council can disregard the views of the other Barisan Nasional component parties, but it cannot treat the views of the Malaysian people with contempt – inviting them to give their views on whether  English-medium school system should be reintroduced to integrate with the new global economy and then shutting out the people’s views in a matter of days without any serious attempt to receive and consider public feedbacks.

The Cabinet meeting tomorrow should decide:  

• whether it is still serious in wanting public feedbacks from Malaysians as to whether there should be a re-introduction of the English-medium school system;  
• how best to arrest the decline and raise the standard of English in the country; 
•  whether the teaching of mathematics and science in English will result in the drop in the standard of both these subjects without any significant improvement in the standard of English – a cure worse than the disease; and 
•  whether the Cabinet is subordinate and subsidiary  to the UMNO Supreme Council, with the Education Minister, Deputy Education Minister and Education director-general taking orders from the UMNO Supreme Council rather than from the Cabinet.

Chinese school educationists and  parents are rightly concerned about the extension of the UMNO Supreme Council proposal to teach mathematics and science in English to the Chinese primary schools, and if the UMNO Supreme Council proposal has become a fait accompli, then the Cabinet tomorrow should take the policy to exempt the Chinese primary schools from this new rule.  

Actually, the most sensible thing for the Cabinet to do tomorrow is to set up an all-party committee to invite public feedback on how best to resolve the unchecked decline of the standard of English for the past 30 years, and to come out with its recommendations in nine to twelve months.

(14/5/2002)