Thursday, August 28, 2008

Maths and science in English: No consensus yet

PUTRAJAYA: There have been differing views on whether the teaching of Science and Mathematics in English should be retained.
Education director-general Datuk Alimuddin Mohd Dom said these views were based on a series of roundtable discussions the ministry had held to discuss the policy since last month.
"The three main views are that some groups want the policy to be retained while others want to revert to the original. Another view is that the policy be retained but that it is introduced either in the second half of primary school or only implemented in secondary school," he told reporters at the end of the second roundtable discussion on Wednesday.
The policy of teaching Science and Mathematics in English was implemented in phases, starting with Year One, Form One and Lower Six students in 2003.
Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein had earlier announced that a decision on whether Science and Mathematics would continue to be taught in English would be made after the Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) results were released at the end of the year.
He said the decision would not be based on the UPSR results but that the ministry was only announcing the decision after the results as it needed time to go through more roundtable discussions to seek the views of different parties.
Alimuddin said the second roundtable discussion was attended by community leaders, parent-teacher associations, non-governmental organisations, representatives from teacher unions, corporate and professional bodies, interested individuals as well as ministry officials.
Two more roundtable discussions would be held in October, he said, adding that these were with teachers and students, and another with politicians.
"The ministry will refine the recommendations from the discussions. This will then be handed over to the minister with other reports and evaluations so that a decision can be made on the policy," he said.

tunku : if the government is sensible they will continue maths and science in english. please do not listen to the so called 'pencinta bahasa' as we won't be less malay if we learn the 2 subjects in english.the ministers and the rich don't bother as most of them sends their children to private schools or international schools which the less fortunate can afford to send their children. if the government really want to help the malays,then continue it at all cost. do not make silly decision like the policy be retained but that it is introduced either in the second half of primary school or only implemented in secondary school. do it the way it is.

5 comments:

Kerel Bort said...

yeah.. why not just proceed with the current policy... the changes not only will have an impact to the school children.. they will only make them confuse..
As for me, I was force to speak English by my father who doesn't really speak English but he really have a clear idea how English could help me in the future.. and I really thankful to have him as my dad.. he may not provide me with fancy international school teaching but he sure do know what is good for his children...

and I still speak perfect Malay... some of my friend sometimes gave me a stare when I used some once-heard-in-a-news-long-long-time-ago Malay words.

The point is, english is good and preserving Malay language is better. Knowing when to use which language is the best. Mixed them up while being interviewed = WHATTTT???

Funny most of our gov-running-ppl still doesn't speak either good english or good malay.. I always watch the News with comment "Please sir, MALAY OR ENGLISH. Don't mix them up, it really make you look stupid in TV"

Anonymous said...

With due respect, Tunku, how can teaching of Maths and Sciences at the school levels be conducted in English when most such teachers still have a very poor command of English, let alone English for Maths and Sciences?

The very foundation of such a decision has not been made - that is to train existing Maths and Sciences teachers, who were mostly trained in Bahasa Malaysia medium, in teaching both subjects in English.

I'm not against teaching of the subjects in English, but the infrastructure in terms of human capital (teachers) must be ready.

The victim : our school going children or grandchildren who get confused not only because their poor command of English but also the poor command of English among the teachers.


Tak Dak Nama 3

Anonymous said...

Funny that this is still an issue for Malaysian's Education.
We all know that it is a fact, to learn Maths and Sci in English will benefits our generation better. It's not the matter of whether our childern will lose their integrity or whatsoever..if they feel that it's a matter of retaining BM, then the prob doesn't lie in learning Maths and Sci in English but in the BM subject itself. Then they shoud do something about it. Make the Bm lessons more appealing and current. Quit blaming on the Maths and Sci in English.
They are just too coward to admit they own failure in making BM language as powerful and impactful as English.

Anonymous said...

it's a very good approach the ministry of education is doing.with doing several sessions with different parties can widen the view and scope about implementing or not Math and Science is English.

the ministry and govt have to consider many factors before deciding on a solution.

the Math and Science in English were introduced to students all in a sudden and unprepared.so,the ministry and govt have to revalute the subject since there are people who opposes and not to mention suppors the idea.

Unknown said...

sistem matematik dan sains dalam bahasa inggeris dulu dilaksanakan dalam keadaan yang "tiba-tiba" serta guru dan pelajar belum dalam keadaan bersedia.

Malaysia belum sepenuhnya lagi guru serta pelajarnya betul-betul mahir dalam berbahasa Inggeris.ada bagus juga jika diteruskan.tapi kita perlu fikirkan juga cadangan dari mereka yang membantah.

tapi yang diharapkan kerajaan dapat membuat keputusan yang terbaik buat para guru serta pelajar.