Maths And Science In BM, effective 2012. -Updated-

PUTRAJAYA, July 8 (Bernama) -- The teaching and learning of science and mathematics in national schools will revert to the Malay language effective 2012. Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the teaching and learning of the two subjects in Chinese and Tamil national-type schools would be carried out in their respective mother tongue. Muhyiddin, who is also the Education Minister, said the cabinet today approved the suggestion by the ministry to empower the Malay language and strengthen the teaching and learning of the English language at all levels of schooling. "This strategy was drawn up based on the study and monitoring carried out by the Education Ministry on the teaching and learning of science and mathematics in English since the policy was implemented in 2003," he said when making the announcement at the Education Ministry, here on Wednesday. The first group of students who studied science and mathematics in the English language since Year One sat for their Ujian Penilian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) last year. Muhyiddin said the implementation of the policy of using the Malay language in the teaching of the two subjects would be carried out in stages in Year One and Year Four in the primary school and Form One and Form Four in the secondary school beginning in 2012. However, he said, the change would not involve students in Form Six and matriculation class. He said in order to ensure that the implementation of the new strategy did not affect the achievement of students who were taught the two subjects in English, the teaching of and examination for the two subjects would be conducted in both languages until the last batch of students who were taught in English completed in 2014. He said the government made the decision after scrutinising the outcome of studies and surveys carried out on the teaching and learning of the two subjects in English which showed that it could not be implemented as desired. "What is implemented is the teaching and learning of science and mathematics in English/Malay languages," he said. --BERNAMA

“The gap between rural and urban students has widened since PPSMI started.“Only 19.2% of secondary teachers and 9.96% of primary teachers were sufficiently proficient in English,” he said, explaining the Government’s decision to revert to the old system. On efforts to emphasise the learning of English, the number of English teachers would be increased by 13,933 -- retirees would be hired, as well as foreigners if need be. Primary schools will also increase English classes by 90 minutes a week. -StarOnline-

The Cabinet's decision is final. I don't know exactly how many people are happy and unhappy about this, but it will cause a stir in the people for a while. Looks like teachers would have to adjust themselves again. I'm certainly dissapointed and shocked with the Cabinet's decision, but maybe they know more. Probably they still think that understanding Maths and Science in BM is beneficial for future prospects. Although I'm proud to be a Malaysian, I still adamantly believe that English plays a bigger role in our(students) future, especially in Maths and Science. During this era where Science and Maths is highly demanded around the world, it is no doubt that English conveys more importance. I am glad that I was the "English Period". I pity my younger brother, rather weak in the command of BM. People like him would have to struggle more. English qualified teachers would have to learn their terms in BM. Students who learned Maths and Science in English from Primary 1, will have to adjust themselves, maybe very reluctantly, to translate their knowledge to BM when they enter Form 4. That's 8 years of basic English knowledge to be translated and used for two years!(Primary 1 to Form 3 = 9 Years). They say Maths and Science doesn't help improve English. Wrong. Being a physics student, English is really important for to understand, capture the requirements of the questions and to calculate the right thing. Maths too. The other reason I think that English is still not as good as it should be is because of the bilingual questions in both subjects. Students who are weak in English does not need to study hard for the language as they can just get the easy way out by answering/reading the questions in BM. Still not persuaded? Think again. They have the choice to answer in English OR BM! Is this bilingual system helping to improve the students command in English or giving them the choice to neglect it cause they are still able to understand the question? I hope it's not a political gimmick to gain the people's votes. Anyway, there's nothing much that people like me can do or say but to just accept and point out my views, so here are the statistics that might be of your interest. It seems that "they" want us to believe that BM won. They say the gap is bigger between the rural and town areas. Don't you think this is nonsense? I do. This is just my view though. Enlighten me with things I do not know.

http://thestar.com.my/archives/2009/7/8/nation/20090708144354.pdf

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