Whither our National Education Policy?

THE online media raced to break the news on Deputy Prime Minister cum Minister of Education Tan Sri Muhyddin Yassin’s announcement on Wednesday with the following headlines screaming: Language-switch policy scrapped; It’s back to Bahasa by 2012; Mathematics, science to be taught in BM, vernacular languages; It’s BM from 2012.

One online news portal Malaysiakini summarised the whole thing thus: ‘The government has admitted that the policy of teaching science and mathematics in English has failed to meet its objectives and will be scrapped.’

The DPM also announced that beginning 2012, the two subjects would be taught in Bahasa Malaysia at national schools and in the respective mother tongues in vernacular schools (Chinese and Tamil schools or national-type schools).

Probably for fear of offending former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammad, the government notified him of its decision beforehand and the reasons for it, and he (the government said) agreed to it.

But immediately after that Dr Mahathir pronounced that the decision was bad as it would affect the future of our children.

He was widely quoted at a media conference as saying the government’s decision would make it difficult for our children to keep up-to-date with development in the world of science.

“I am saddened because our children will become the victims of this policy.”

Dr Mahathir is no longer PM but retired from politics, and could be said to have only the best interests of the nation at heart.

Why was I, for one, not surprised at the government arriving at that decision in spite of divided public opinion?

The decision was probably made long before the announcement on the Manek Urai by-election due on Tuesday, July 14.

Some people might be excused for jumping to the conclusion that it has something to do with the forthcoming by-election which both Pakatan Rakyat and Barisan Nasional are desperate to win.

Or could the result of the Manek Urai by-election be a foregone conclusion since it is in PAS land (Kelantan)?

A senior academic described the decision to stop teaching maths and science in English as yet another flip flop on the government’s part in the major decision-making process.

Is it a good enough ground to say that the teachers are just not up to the mark to handle the two subjects in English? If this is a fact, it begs the question why this was only realised after almost seven years?

Within that period, even the most reluctant of teachers and pupils would have improved their English with a good and sound education system.

The reversal in the usage of the English language for just the teaching of mathematics and science subjects has significant ramifications for the development of the national education policy and system.

It raises more questions than anything else on whether the flip flop, deliberate or otherwise, is dictated by political and possibly racial considerations rather than the need to establish an all-encompassing and progressive education system that is favourable to everyone and, more importantly, to one nation or the PM’s concept of 1Malaysia.

It has often been argued that accepting one of the internationally popular languages like English, French or Chinese as the main medium of instruction in our schools, colleges and universities is not necessarily a good thing for the nation.

Why, it is further argued, the Japanese, one of the most economically-advanced countries in the world, use their own language all the way for learning and teaching; so do the French, the Spanish, the Chinese, use their own languages and not adopt a foreign language as their medium of instruction yet could still do well in commerce and industry and international diplomacy.

What may not always be known in those countries mentioned above is a growing demand, dictated by various considerations, for the learning and teaching of English. Like it or not, English is the most common foreign language used universally. Never mind if it is spoken with a Singlish, Maglish, Pidgin, American, Australian or British accent, characterised by what is called the ‘Oxbridge accent’.

Non-native speakers of English in many countries are also doing extremely well — especially former colonial possessions such as Singapore, Malaysia and India which adopted and use a lot of English for business and politics.

You cannot say we in Malaysia are not doing well although there is always resistance — more for nationalistic reasons than anything else — to the wider use of English in officialdom including to teach in state schools, colleges and universities.

My friend the senior academician often laments the poor command or understanding of English among his charges and tries to bridge that gap in understanding by being bilingual.

He always tells me Malaysians should not just be able to speak in their mother tongues, but try to master more than one foreign language — English and one or two others like Mandarin and French.

He asks: “Why stop at English when it comes to learning foreign languages?”

It may be wrong to be unduly harsh with the government which may be ‘caught between the devil and the deep blue sea’ before making the painful decision, which it well know would not go down well with a lot of people in the country.

Before this, ministerial statements seem to allude to the fact that the majority of rural students had difficulty coping with English, thereby implying that when the decision was made in 2002 to switch the language for mathematics and science to English, we were not ready.

This begs the question: When will we ever be ready?

Admittedly, after the National Education Policy was introduced in the mid-1960s in Peninsular Malaysia to promote Bahasa Malaysia as the main medium of instruction, the school system plunged headlong into the learning and teaching of BM in all subjects, except English itself.

The politics of the time also reduced the priority given to English in schools, colleges and universities. In fact, many rural students grew up to resent English, made worse by feelings fanned by some politicians that English was nothing more than the language of our erstwhile colonial masters.

So going back to English was not without difficulty. There were many obstacles to overcome.

Fortunately, in the private sector and following a relaxation of the National Education Policy, private colleges and universities were established, all using English as the main medium of instruction. Prep schools and private tuition schools were set up to give the extra grounding in English and English grammar.

Thanks to these private institutions, we have a growing army of kids who are as familiar with English as they are with BM and their respective mother tongues, lending immeasurable support to state schools, colleges and universities.

But the latest announcement by the DPM that the government is going “to strengthen the learning and teaching of Malay and English” might leave many people wondering what exactly is the meaning or implication of the decision to do away with English in the teaching of mathematics and science.

Is it to put a brake on the expanded use of English in the teaching of the school curriculum while giving only greater emphasis to English learning as a subject in schools?

Or are we bringing back the old system of allowing vernacular schools — the Chinese and Tamil medium schools — to teach in their respective languages, apart from BM, but preparing them for the common public examinations which they must pass to obtain full certification?

Whatever is being contemplated for the country’s education, it should be in the interest of students whose future depends on it.