In 2012, the Malaysian education system will revert to teaching Science and English in Bahasa Melayu. English has been the medium used in teaching these 2 subjects since 2003, implemented by then PM, Dr Mahathir Mohammad, in an attempt to improve students' command of English, and thus their future employability.
The decision to revert to the pre-2003 system was made as the government found out that the average students' grades for Maths and Science has fallen since these subjects were taught in English. Rural students are reported to suffer the most as their proficiency in English is not as strong as their friends' in urban schools.
So what do you think? Do you agree with the government's decision, or should we continue with the current system..?
Personally, I'd like the current practice to be continued. I myself suffered during my university days as the medium used was English. When I was in secondary school, everything was taught in BM (except English class).As a result, I got very low marks during the initial semesters as I couldn't understand the lessons being taught, let alone answering questions in English correctly. It took me a long time to get my grades on track, and suffice to say, I wished I had enrolled in an English-medium school during secondary level, just like what my parents had.
If I had been taught in English for Maths and Science subjects during secondary level, I'd imagine that the transition to university level wouldn't have been that difficult. Furthermore, we would have another avenue to practice listening, talking and writing in English. The fact is, for most schools in which BM is the medium of teaching, the only time we (like most Malay kids who don't speak English at home) practiced our English was during English class, and that was only like 3-4 hours, per week. Do you think that'd be enough to improve a student's command of English? I don't think so!
I'd think the solution is simple, if you want to produce students who have good command of English, they should be attending schools where English is the medium of teaching. Why do a lot of our parents and grandparents have good command of English? Because they went to English medium schools. Why do some Malay students can speak Mandarin? Because they went to Chinese schools!
However, I do understand the problems we're having with the current system. Although what Dr Mahathir Mohammad wanted to implement,in my opinion, was spot on, there were not enough teachers who can actually teach Science and Maths in English. If teachers have difficulty teaching subjects in English, how do we expect the students to be good at it?
*image from Portal Pendidikan Utusan
An interesting comment was given by a father who lives in a kampung, when asked by a TV3 interviewer about his thought on this issue. His answer was,
"Apa yang kerajaan nak buat ni bagus.. tetapi kalau murid-murid sendiri tak tahu Bahasa Inggeris , macam mana mereka nak faham apa yang diajar dalam Bahasa Inggeris..?"
Translation: I think you know! =D
So another problem is the students' proficiency in English. The father's answer explains the issue itself.
I'd like to suggest that the government provide another type of public school, which uses English as the medium of teaching. Parents will then have another option to send their kids to. (They can always send them to private school, but I'd think most middle and low-income parents would not be able to afford the school fees)
Thank you for reading. I'd love to read your opinions!
