The Teaching of Science and Mathematics..
PPSMI. This stands for Pengajaran dan Pembelajaran Sains dan Matematik in English. In the English Language the acronym stands for the learning and teaching of science and mathematics in English. A disparate group of people from various backgrounds got together to give expression to the collective hope of a majority of Malays, to ask the government to abolish the teaching of the 2 subjects in English. They wanted these to be taught in Bahasa Melayu. They called their movement GMP. I am not going to dismiss their memorandum outright. We have not seen it. It may contain the rationale and reasons for them asking the government to consider their suggestions. Hishamudin has probably not read the memorandum. He is busy preparing for his party elections. Understandably his response was livid. He asked- why complaint now after the teaching has been implemented since the last six years. If my memory does not fail me, I am sure last year, Hishamudin was on record of saying that these subjects will be taught in Malay. That, of course was meant to snub Dr. Mahathir. It was TDM who decided in 2002 to allow the teaching of the two subjects in English. When Hishamuddin said that, the flavour of the month was to hit back at TDM in any way to express absolute support to Pak Lah. Of course at that time, Pak Lah was still the supreme leader. Now that Pak Lah is a lame duck PM, Hishamudin can afford to disagree publicly with the PM. He has recently said the Kajian Asas about the teaching of the 2 subjects is not going to be rushed. For all you know, it may contain a complaint as to why Hishamudin as the Menteri Pelajaran is dragging his feet in making a decision. He knew that this has been a principal source of grievance by many Malays. This was the mission of the GMP- Gerakan Mansuhkan the PPSMI. The organisers of the march planned to submit their memorandum to the Agong. This caucus of Malay luminaries comprises of intellectuals and Malay language champions. The object is to ask the government to revert the teaching of the two subjects in Malay. A look into the list of some of the people who were involved in the language march that day is very impressive. Certainly this was not a march by people carrying Molotov bottles such as during the 1974 students demonstrations masterminded among others, by a certain politician who was then a fiery and demagogic student leader. This was a march by some of the brain boxes of the Malay community. It included a sizeable number of professors teaching the sciences and mathematics. The involvement of opposition politicians in the language march does not alter the overall image of the marchers. It was still a march organised and managed by respected intellectuals expressing support for their mother language. Bahasa Melayu is not only the mother language of the language marchers, but is also our national language. The involvement of opposition politicians who are also Malays does not provide the government the excuse to fire teargases and water cannons. We may not agree with the objective of the language marchers, but certainly we can express our disgust at the response by the government. Clearly, the response was one more symptomatic of a besieged and beleaguered government. That happens when the government turned on its own people. I hope this response of an UMNO led government turning on its people (almost all Malays) is not the proverbial straw that breaks the camel's back. If it is, then DS Najib's will meet his comeuppance in the 13th General Elections. Looking at the character and composition of the language marchers, we are dumbfounded by the coercive response of the police. Why would the response visited upon the language marchers bear the hallmark of a response usually meted out to threats to public peace? It would be so only if the government is clueless as to how to handle the situation in this country. The language of the befuddled and deranged is the use of coercive instruments of the state. The use of children and children's future is a powerful and emotional unifying factor. Hence we can understand the reluctance of many, especially those urbanites who have accessibility to countless number of facilities to decry the intended reversion to English. They make valid observations about the necessity of mastering a language which has become the most universal of languages. Mastering of English language no doubt increases competitiveness and so forth. I am totally in support of these erudite observations. Likewise, those people marching for the use of Bahasa Melayu in the teaching of the two subjects are motivated by the same earnest desire. The use of English just as Zorro said continues to be the millstones and neck shackles around the necks of many more Malay children in the rural areas, children of the disposed, the poor and all those who can't afford access to teaching facilities. Rural children are faced with a triple jeopardy. The two subjects are relatively the more difficult ones. They have to overcome that. Then they are faced with second difficulty of mastering a language in which the 2 subjects are taught. The whole thing becomes compounded when the two subjects are taught by ill trained teachers who themselves are deficient in the language. I hope the memorandum which the GMP sends to the Agung points out to the sorely lacking factors that can make the children in rural areas and children of the disposed more competitive. These include lack of educational faculties and trained teachers in English. In the end, the solution may be this actually- allocate more resources to the rural areas so that they have a level playing field.
48 comments:
Haiyah, dato, it all boils down to money. millions have been spent on text books, curriculum development, teacher training, examination setting -these are the visibles, what about the invisible like kick-backs etc? There i a whole shadow economy associated with the way contracts are given to publishers and the like. Not to forget TDM is still around and lurking in the background and word going round as we all know is Najib is beholden to self confessed mentor nd not about to displease TDm as not get walloped like AAB got walloped for, and Hishamuddin is beholden to his cousin. Definitely not easy to reverse just like that. Who says education has anything to do with it? mampus lah kebajikan dan pendidkan anak-anak kita. one day can one day cannot. Hishamudiin where got time to look at memorandum, he busy lining his nest egglah. Anak-anak VIP semo hantar kat luar negri. Malaysia boleh!
I may be a lone voice today, but I'm one for the teaching of science and maths in BM.
Not because it is our language and will become insignificant if English is used. Not for many of the reasons given.
I'm for BM because that is what our children understand. And to impart knowledge, we need to employ a medium that the kids understand. If they don't understand, how can they learn?
PLUS, I know that very few out there can teach in English, let alone speak it. How would they make things better?
So, in the end, we'd have a bunch of students who 1. Can't speak English. 2. Don't do Maths. 3. Don't understand Science.
How does that help us?
Btw, have you noticed that those who yell about English eroding the role and significance of BM all speak reasonably good English?
English is a language. We should teach it as a language. Not mangle it to teach tough subjects and further mess with out messed-up brains of our children!
If we take the politics out of this equation, it's so simple to see the path to follow. But things are so doomed right now, we don't know which way is up anymore.
Good post, Datuk.
More resources to upgrade skills in the use of the english language for science and maths should be allocated for the rural folks.
Other things can also be done. The National Science Museum, PetroSains and the National Library should combine forces to run a nation-wide rural mobile science exhibition. Get the teachers in the rural areas involved for each place visited. It won't take much, just creativity and will. The exhibition will be done on wheels, going from one kampung to another, preannounced by each ketua kampung. The exhibits can include simple things like discharge spheres, hamsters on treadmill lighting bulb, design of aerodynamic wau, how a motorcycle works, splitting white light, archimedes principle, proving pythagoras theorem using pieces of wood, using a stopwatch to measure pendulum behavior, and so on. Even how to construct a talking robot or Transformer. Many things to show and excite the young ones. The instructions should be given first in a mix of Bahasa and english, then get the children to ask questions in english. Couple the process with a simple tutorial to show how to tap the internet for more information, as well as how to read science and maths books in english. Teach them how to break texts into parts, and then how to read them in chunks for meaning. Over time, and in conjunction with tapes and CDs that teach english for science and maths they can play in their homes, they should be able to learn the language by sound, since both are romanized. Get the adults to talk to the parents to allocate time for their children to study properly.
It takes time but should be tried because there is a whole world of knowledge out there they will be excluded from tapping for the rest of their lives if they don't.
There is another challenge few have acknowledged. The ratio of girls to boys entering higher education is higher and higher. One day we will find more girls than boys coming out more educated. While this is great, it has a number of effects on society. First is what will the men be doing in the 21st century? Second, will more educated women mean we will become more and more a services economy, and if we are not knowledgeable because of stunted foresight, what sort of services economy will that be? These are hidden trends, for instance if men cannot improve 'hardware' because they didn't learn more in the sciences and engineering, and other countries have come up to our levels of manufacturing expertise, all our industries will hollow out unless women go into those industries and run factories and so on; that's unlikely so what is going to happen in the future for our human capital?
Those who have taken part in the protests should be asked these questions to see what answers they have.
Even to defend a culture or a language, one must have money. Money comes from relevant work. Relevant work comes from knowledge. Knowledge in science and maths are paramount to build economies. It's just too risky to depend on commerce, talk and mining for the future. The present global meltdown is forcing many governments to prime their own internal economies by asking their people to buy local products and services, but if these two things cannot improve or get more value-added from innovation which comes from sharper use of knowledge, how can that happen? If the urban people will become poor, what more the rural people.
Yes, help the rural malays and the others in the rural areas come up.
In the old days..students who came up thru the Malay schools had to go thru one year in Remove class.And after that..they are quite proficient in English.
Nowadays,our students are sent to Japan,Germany,Russia,Middle East...and i believe that they need 6 months training to get the language proficiency;so I really can't understand why its so difficult for this teaching of Science/Maths in English.
The idea was mooted by TMM...and becos teachers with english skills was not readily available..laptops,projectors was supposed to be used...and with the proper software content/teaching notes..the whole process would create interactive up to date learning environments..with multimedia,flash animations,audio videos even 3D diagrams>>it would be a sensational way to learn.Billions have been spent for hardware and software...so whats the output like?
And if the software was properly designed...there can be multi language options which will be only marginal cost.The bulk of the manhours is the storyboards,contents and multimedia.
And with the lower cost of memory now..a 2GB stick is less than 50 bucks now?...and cheaper basic computers...students can actually carry the courses literally in their hands.
So,before we raise hell...lets go to school and see how good the proposed system of IT based education is?The country hv invested billions...and with a live lab..shld be the leader in such teaching technology.
We need to see positives too.
I agree with you Sakmongkol. Walla too. Train more teachers in English, provide more facilities in the rural areas as the problem is predominant there.
This situation has been brought about by the changes made by Malaysian leaders, specifically Malay leaders as they were the backbone of BN, over the many decades in the past. The zealousness to promote Bahasa Malaysia after independence, BM as the medium of instruction, then the realisation on the the importance of English as a medium of communication in the international arena. The Malays lagging behind because of poor command of the English language, many firms complaining of Malay graduates inability to even speak English well enough to communicate effectively with clients.
This hangover is still there in the market now. I would not be surprised on the high number of non English proficient participants at the demo the other day.
I disagree a lot with what TDM did during his time but on the language issue I gave him full marks. We are nowhere technologically compared to, say, Israel which has only a quarter of our population size. No doubt the Jews had Einstein, Oppenheimer and many Nobel prize winners and, more importantly, the Israeli Lobby and US backing. But we badly need to progress fast in scientific and technological fields. Can we do it reasonably well without English? How long would it take to translate all the English language publications on those subjects?
We are already lagging behind in those areas, we need to catch up. We cannot afford to wait for translations to be done of past works and of future publications as and when they become available internationally.
As ar as money is concerned, it's a matter of adjusting priorities and planning. There must be recognition of the fact that English is very important in commerce, science and technology. Even the Mainland Chinese have been busy learning English despite Mandarin being the official language of the 1.3 billion Chinese there. They who have over 1,000 inventions, many since ancient times. They who have sent astronauts to outer space and now want to fly to the moon. We don't need to think of going to the noon yet but at least more of the precision instruments and complex equipment that Kamaludin's Socomi was said to have produced (who they were produced for and for what purpose is another matter).
I hope people like Hishamudin gives better answers than why complain 6 years after PPSMI implementation. We need leaders who are keenly perceptive about international developments, about the need to catch up with technological advancement. Less politicking and, for goodness sake, be uncorrupt and get rid of corruption.
My take on dealing with symbols;
Human tends to have an ability to extrapolate/correlate ideas that his/her mind has some rudiment understanding.
From that basic integrand then comes the sparks of desire to explore the extra knowledge that is hidden from the surface.
And LANGUAGE is but a form of symbols, enhanced with sound! And mother tongue is BUT the beginning of all that inquisitive mind!
This is the basic true in this scenario for all Malaysia school going children.
"Rural children are faced with a triple jeopardy. The two subjects are relatively the more difficult ones. They have to overcome that. Then they are faced with second difficulty of mastering a language in which the 2 subjects are taught. The whole thing becomes compounded when the two subjects are taught by ill trained teachers who themselves are deficient in the language."
The UN has formulated that children has a better grip of science/math if these subjects r been taught in their mother tongue. Is that UN study wrong? R our educators/politicians better in educational teaching than the might of UN? No?
The current PPSMI setup kills that inquiry spark as mentioned by Dato Sak's triple jeopardy ( forth, including the poor English language commanded tutors).
What we have is hp6 students, neither here nor there in the correct understanding of science/math. The proficiency of English? What proficiency r u talking about?
If one wants to master a language, be that English, Mandarin or Swahili, the correct approach is to make that language a central piece of attention to the learners. Support that approach with the right capable tutors too.
Not the rojak approach of PPSMI!
gwlnet
one of the problem is teacher with good english command for teaching Math and sci dont want to stay at sekolah kat ulu pahang ke ulu telemong ke ulu papar ke or kat ladang glengowrie ke , they want easy access to sogo ke the curve ,dll .so please review back the policy
Sape yang anti PPSMI ni sumer bengong. Tak pkir panjang. Jumud. Aku skrg keje kat Spore,company besar ada kat 140 buah Negara. field oil n gas lagi. gaji 7-8k sebulan wpun x sampai 2 thn grad. Alhamdulillah, rezeki. Tapi pandai b.inggeris atas kertas je (written english). spoken english hancus. colleagues sumer xtau cakap melayu. Aku gagahkan juga berckp BI. Macam mana comp nak promote? Kalu ada PPSMI bleh gak bebudak skrg belajar menguasai BI. Aku dulu bngong BI gak. Tapi sejak kene tarik hidung ngan Sir BI aku sebab berbelit lidah sebut perkatan “would” masa darjah 6, aku terus belajar BI sendiri. Aku ada member masa kat UTM dulu. Subjek SPM sumer score. Tapi BI x kredit. wat paperwork kena maki ngan lecturer sebab translate word by word. x ke bengong tu. masuk industri, takde sape nak wpun 1st class degree sbb BI hancus. So nak senang, diorang amik Cina. Pastu org melayu marahkan govt sebab graduan xde keje. Itula, orang Melayu. Pikir la… X kemana bangsa Melayu kalu org Melayu jadi kuli je, nak naik kena tolak sbb communication skill xde. Bini aku lagi kesian, ada masters in land admin, tapi skarg jadi surirumah sepenuh masa. Sape nk byr PTPTN dier? Aku gak…
Epul>>thats informative>>actual hands on experience on import of English proficiency in industry.
Question is >>would u hv done even better in ur career ( or be a better professional/Engineer? )if u hv been taught Science and Maths in English from primary school?
Did u hv difficulties in researching books/internet cos u were not so well versed in English?
Epul
Syabas. Macam itu lah kita hendak semangat orang Melayu. Tak cukup itu, tak cukup ini, tapi coba sedaya upaya. Anak saudara saya satu macam sdr, juga di oil & gas industry. Saya amat bangga, walau pun dia kelulusan tak berapa.
Kuldeep,
I'm sure Epul would haver fared better if he had studied maths and science in English in primary school.
The point is with English he can communicate with his colleagues and get the job done better than otherwise.
Education concerns our children and every parent will want the best for them. But we must be clear on our objectives. What do we want of education?
Language of unity? Then teach the social and cultural subjects in Malay. These fields don't change so much so there is not much translation required.
Language of utility? We need to consider the global market as export is the largest part of our economy.
Who are our customers? China, Japan, Europe, US, Singapore, South Korea. What is the most effective language to communicate with them? The answer is obvious - English and Chinese.
What do we want to produce? Thinking, creative citizens who are a credit to society and able to make their way in life, or crippled, unemployable graduates?
Here's a proposal: Let the marketplace dictate and parents be free to choose what language they want their children to study in. The children will pay the price for the parents decisions. You bet they will choose carefully.
And they certainly don't wish to let some faceless bureaucrats in the Ministry of Education or the Minister himself (who sends his children overseas to study) to decide their children's future for them.
1. Primary school: Science and Maths to be taught in 4 languages - Malay, English, Chinese and Tamil. Children are free to choose.
2. Secondary school: Science and Maths to be taught in English only. That is because at this stage the rate of development of science and maths is very rapid and the Dewan Bahasa & Pustaka will not be able to find enough people of the required skill and knowledge (mastery of English, Malay and Science/Maths in the appropriate field) to undertake the translation. It is also not cost-effective. If we really wish to continue in Malay, then Indonesian is more appropriate as they may have sufficient translated books available.
Children also need to learn to find their own sources on the internet, which is mainly in English. If the Chinese independent schools want to continue in Chinese, good luck to them. There are enough Chinese books for them because of China and Taiwan.
This policy worked very well in Singapore. Initially, it was both Chinese and English. Eventually, everyone studied English as Chinese was not so popular in the marketplace. Today, with the rise of China, Chinese will become important again.
But bottom line, all the children should study under one roof. We need our children from different communality to grow up together.
Kuldeep, i do have problem communicating with my colleagues since they came from all over the world. and of course i can go further if I can perform well in my whatever-pain-in-the-ass-presentation they had. And now, I'm trying my best to learn French... just for fun.
i don't see how teaching maths and science in english will improve ones grasp of the english language.
using myself as an example - all subjects were taught in BM when i was in school and while i managed a string of A & C for all subjects, i only barely passed my BM with a sorry P7.
this meant that i had no problem understanding what was being taught but still, my BM remained weak.
the way any language is taught and learnt is a science of its own and repetition without understanding and application is not the way.
why not just improve the standard of english teachers and create better modules to enable students to learn rather than force it onto them?
Sakmongkol,
This is the memorandum :
http://rockybru2.blogspot.com/2009/03/memorandum-by-anti-english-for-m-group.html
Bahasa yg digunakan amatlah patronising dan kurang manis utk tatapan Agung.
Bahasa tidak melambangkan jiwa bangsa.
Sak, dimana mereka ini apabila dap hendakkan multi lingual road signs?
Dimana mereka ini apabila mereka menidakkan sekolah kebangsaan (bahasa pengantar utama is BM)?
Dimana mereka apabila PAS mengetepikan bangsa (nik aziz kata bangsa tak penting)
Alhamdulillah sekarang PAS juga memperjuangkan bangsa dan bahasa spt UMNO.
GMP tak sedar apabila PPSMI dimansuhkan, sekolah cina dan tamil akan revert ke bahasa ibunda mereka. Maka
lumpuhlah usaha govt utk mengurangkan jurang polarisation antara kaum. Jika english dan bm boleh menjadi bahasa
perbicaraan harian antara kaum, usaha gmp ini akan mengakibatkan BM dan BI lebih terpinggir.
Sakmongkol memuji Zorro tanpa mengetahui apa yg tersirat disebalik apa yg tersurat.
Susah juga jika tiada pandangan jauh dan berkebolehan utk $elihat the bigger picture.
Kehadiran pemimpin PAS juga menyerlahkan hipokrasi mereka. Nik aziz berkata bumiputraism adalah apartheid (jadi kakaktua kpd pemimpin dap johor).
Dia lupa jika hendak memartabatkan bahasa melayu, kenalah ada elemen ketuanan melayu.
Ini cuma political mileage shj. Saya hampa sakmongkol tdk dpt melihatnya.
Melayu juga dikudakan.
Horse lover
maths and science in english is good>>we cannot hide ourselves from the world when technology is driven on global basis ..hey,i would learn mandarin too if it give me edge in this ultra competitive world.
And to educate me in my roots...which i am proud of..give me more of the malay literature..gv me more of the malay history but let me learn maths and science in english so that i can research easier on the net/books.
i don't want politics..i want to make sure i get good education and good career
student
horse lover.
i said:
Likewise, those people marching for the use of Bahasa Melayu in the teaching of the two subjects are motivated by the same earnest desire. The use of English just as Zorro said continues to be the millstones and neck shackles around the necks of many more Malay children in the rural areas, children of the disposed, the poor and all those who can't afford access to teaching facilities.
clearly i hold an equally valid but opposite concern than zorro. he said the use of BM will be a millstone around childrens' necks- i am saying, the use of English will also likewise be a millstone around the necks of rural Malay children.
bukan memuji, but share the similar but opposite concern. bukan gitu?
Not to worry about shackles on the necks of our children lo...if we go on focusing on issues such as this instead of addressing the financial crisis with potentially 10% unemployments,exports down another 30% and 30% wiped out from property and stockmarkets...well the shackles will truly be on our collective necks and crush us all to oblivion regardless of whether we talk english,malay,chinese or tamil.
Hi Dato' Sak,
The issue is down to transparency. Surely from the moment go, the Minister would have instituted some sort of monitoring mechanism (or did he?).
With a report, every stakeholder can see for themselves the extent of this gap, whether it is merely a perception or indeed reality. Furthermore, people can also see whether or not the measures taken by the Ministry bears any semblance to success. To date, the only measurement we have got into this entire system was via the results of a comparative assessment in Science and Mathematics, called TIMS, conducted in over 50 countries, which clearly shows the performance Malaysian students steadily deteriorating.
I thought we spent a heck of a lot of money on the Education Ministry, and instead of hoping for progress, the Minister has let us down by presiding over a perceptious drop of educational standards in this country.
But of course, we will honour such great "track record" with a Vice President post this upcoming PAO. I am guessing the Ministry of Defence will be the next stop, as perhaps, even PM2B, realizes entrusting DS Hishamuddin with the Ministry of Finance is , to put it mildly, risky.
Without the hard facts, people have to rely on anecdotal evidence, and the anectodal evidence is exactly what you said - rural children not getting a basic education in Science or Mathematics because of a lack profeciency in the subject matter.
So the Minister says no need to rush the report, he goes one step further saying there is no deadline.
May I surmize this in another way,
Dato Seri Hishamuudin, Minister of Education is clueless about the Government policy on PPSMI and he does not even know when he will cease to be clueless about it.
Sak,u have sons in school. What do u think of the ppsmi?
Are u angry that ur sons are learning maths n science in english?
Its good to know what u think abt this. Please share ur thoughts concerning ur sons education
I have always maintained that children are teachable. It is the teaching that we should look at: the teachers, the training, facilities and the monitoring and evaluation of programme implementation.
When students fail, teachers should ask where they have gone wrong, what has/have gone wrong. Policy makers and supervisory staff should also ask the same questions. No one knows for sure if there were any interventions during the six-year period to tweak anything that might be lacking.
But I guess everybody knows that despite education being considered the equaliser of life's chances, the great leveller, nothing much has been done by way of euitable allocation of resources. Teaching in the rural areas require knowledgeable and innovative as well as dedicated tecahers. Do we send the right kind of teachers to teach in the rural areas? Do we provide the required support to ensure that the programme succeeds? Are there enough people committed enough to see that everything is done to ensure success?
Teaching can be a lonely profession. Teachers know that at the end of the day they will be held accountable: perhaps transferred or overlooked for promtion if things don't turn out the way their many bosses want. Has anyone looked at the quality of headmasters and school principals, the people who manage teaching-learning at the school level? The state Director of Education who will allocate the necessary resources, the District Education Officers who advise and supervise? Is everything in working order? Who are really accountable?
We have done many things in the past and successfully too. Where once you can count the number of rural Malay students who would opt for the science stream, we now have thousands of them. I can still remember the cyclostyled maths textbooks used in schools for Malay medium students in the late 50s and early 60s. Can you imagine Malay students having to listen to and learn from Indonesian teachers teach them maths and science? How did we succeed? I guess we had the will to do so then plus a lot of other contributing variables.
I guess we need to look at these things and not start a witch hunt or chase non-existent shadows. If I want to be cynical I can always say that the leaders of the anti-PPSMI movement are worried about nothing else other than about their livelihood:incomes from writing books, printing and selling them and so on and so forth. But that would be counter-productive. Let us then listen to the fears of the anti-PPSMI people (without the intervention of self-serving politicians)and do what is necessary to ensure that rural Malay students don't really lose out. Let us look at the education of the young and see what we can do to make life better for the coming generations.
AYAH
Again, the big picture is important. If the rural kids
cannot perform or find it a bit difficult to catch up then the teachers there need to work
doubly hard. If the teachers'english proficiency is inadequate, then by all means train them.
What are the teachers doing everytime there's school holidays?
When kids are proficient in english these days, some of them may end up as teachers in the near future.
They then will become a proficient maths and science teachers (in english)m. The cycle then continues and
multiply in effect. The govt must be strong. The opposition needs to cooperate for the sake of our childrens's future.
A lot of people who are commenting here have children or grandchildren who are learning ppsmi.
I doubt they will be happy if their urban children had to revert learning those two subjects in BM.
Nevertheless, gmp had fallen to the political plays of the opposition.
The gmp and their 'esteemed' leaders had broken promise (adat melayu ke mungkir janji?) not to demonstrate.
The permit was only to gather in masjid negara. What god divine right do they have to be above the law?
The memorandum was written in bad taste. To me, the gmp are a bunch group of lazy people who are too thick headed to work and find ways to
improve the ppsmi. They had surrendered too easily and blamed thegivt instead of themselves.
Melayu juga yang diperkudakan. Rakyat malaysia juga yang rugi di masa hadapan
Horse lover
Its toooooo obvious!
Your call for openness, globalised thinking, competitive and all is at odd withthis view point of yours.
Jangan malu-malu nak ambil stance lain dari Khairy.
Nampak sangat KJ punya paid missionary. All his setiakawan friends are sub standard thinking maggot unable to potray Khairy wothout the membodek phrases..
1. You have to love the language to be proficient not force upon the children.
2. Primary school should be about familiarization with English terms in science and mathematic. Not proficiency in the language it self.
3. Primary school should have Dwi Bahasa tect book, English and Bahasa Malaysia side by side.eg. If the children don’t understand it they can always look at the Bahasa translation.
4. Test can be answered either in English or Bahasa.
5. Form 4 and 5 Science and mathematics should be taught in English only. By this time they should be good enough to answer test in English. A good preparation for their varsity days.
6. They have 9 years to familiarize with English language and terminology, so there shouldn’t be any problems.
Dato', if what you wrote about Hishamuddin's positioning and re-positioning himself on the PPSMI project is accurate, and I have no reasons to think otherwise, this confirms what we poor Malaysians have always feared -- that Education in our country had been and will probably forever be POLITICED.
We need to step back and for once, think and manage the Education Ministry from the most important perspective -- i.e. to prepare our children for their future.
By the way, these words were not my own or original, as Saidina Ali (rnh) had already said "teach your child for his FUTURE".
So Education is about our children and their future. Get it?
Even if we have done PPSMI for 6 years or 16 years or even 66 years, if it is not going to benefit our children - DUMP IT! NOW !! PLEASE !
BUT what is it that we can do for the future of our CHILDREN??
The superrich could leave behind a mountain of riches and asets to heir children. But as the famous Chinese saying goes, even great fotunes could only last three generations!!
For the rest we hope to provide our children with good education so that they could look after themselves after we are gone.
In today's terms, looking after themselves would mean being able to get an then hold on to a good jobs.
With as many as over 60,000 graduates in all fields of studies, still lookigh for their first job, (some after years of graduation) it would seem we have failed tham. Remember Saidina Ali - he said we have to train our children for their future !!
IF they had studied in the English language, instead of in Bahasa Melayu, would it have made any difference ??. Some would say YES. Of course some others would even say NEVER.
CREATING JOBS or worrying about job creation - education purist would say is NOT their remit. They would say their role is to educate our children. To do what -- think, they would say.
Well are YOU doing it well or even at all in our schools and universities ??.
May be it will serve all of US well to remember what Herbert Spencer, an English philosopher once said "The aim of Education is action"
Can we say that not being able to get jobs for so many graduates, not to speak of SPM holders, could be due to the fact that we have been focusing too much on KNOWING and not on ACTION. If so, then we had failed our children. We should remember always what Saidina Ali wanted us to do - train and prepare our chldren for their future (and of course not our political ambitions)
It is true that job creation is not the sole responsibility of the Ministry of Education, although they have the major role to play. We must accept the basic equation, to have more jobs we have to have more employers.
In the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and even in the 1990s, to get more jobs we need more foreign investments because we do not have the financial capital to start our own ventures.
Well today, most unit trust funds have been allowed to have foreign portfolios. So we have the financial means to start our own ventures. Savings rate in Malaysia is high even by Asian standards. And these funds are keeping our banking system very lquid. We have money if there are viable proposals for loans.
The EPF collects in excess of RM 8 billion annually. Like the unit trust fund managers, EPF also went into internationa markets to invest. Increedible -- is the word we could use to describe the amount of funds we have ready for investments. So how come we have more graduates than there are jobs ??
We can safely rubbish popular comments, even by some ministers that our graduated are too choosy. Some ICT graduates are working as security guards and some science graduates are selling insurance policies.
We can also rubbish popular comments that graduates could get jobs if they could speak good English. If this is so, then give them 3 months intensive English training, then they would be able to get jobs. If not 3 months then 6 months if not 6 months the give 9 months. I bet even if we train them intensively for 16 months, most would still not get jobs because there were NONE to be had.
So we are back to the central issue - if we Malaysians both corporates and government are unable to create the number of good jobs for our children (shame on us, we cannot even take care of our own), then we need to attract the outsiders to come to Malaysian shores to start their ventures here.
For them to want to come here, they need good workers and excellent executives to be able to work with them and work with English (not just speak in English).
By the way our children will have to be better than those from Singapore, or from Indonesia, or India, Thailand or even Korea. Otherwise why would these foreign companies bother to come to our country??
How do we get our kids to be able to work with English. Here lies the answer we have been seeking for the last 6 years. Is is pretty obvious is it not??
Tun Dr Mahathir - very sorry Sir. We just do not deserve you.
TDM proposed that teaching enabled by using IT...after years on it,whats the status of the software?
By any reasonable measure..with the amount of monies spent...we should have good interactive software..with audio,video,3D animations>>>whats the update on the progress ?We need to know that...
And if software done right...the language element is so easy to do..u hv automated translations,u can hv clickable glossaries..simple.
We are not trying to develop shakespeares ;just students with a feel and comfort for English as a technical language.We do not want students who needs to refer to a dictionary when someone in the factory tells them to evacuate lah.
and cheap usb thumbdrives,sub Rm 1000 PCs..if the software is done well over the last 8 years we can be world leaders now.
TDM was visionary but maybe the bigger visionaries are the bandits that was paid millions to put a textbook onto power point.
Maths and science in English is not for language proficiency.
It's to train pupils to understand concepts and priciples so that, as they go on in life, they can easily understand and develop their interest in science and technology. Materials in these subjects are mainly in the English language and it takes a lot of time to translate them. Why waste the time to do the voluminous translation? What's wrong with teaching them in the English language?
Teaching those subjects in English also helps them speak the language better. English language is very important in commerce too.
How well they can understand the subjects depends on how well they can speak the language. These depend on the teachers and the facilities made available. Get good teachers. Give them incentives like special allowances, free accomodation in rural areas, etc.
Availability of jobs for those who do well in PPSMI is a separate issue. For goodness sake, don't keep changing to suit political or economic conditions.
We need a reservoir of people well qualified in maths and science to produce those interested and can become involved in a highly progressive scientific and technological industry - at all levels, from doers to thinkers, managers and investors.
We must have an accelerated scientific and technological advancement. We are already behind in many respects.
Only to say
If Hishamudin is worth his father's name, he should not change PPSMI.
It was his father who, despite the fervour on Bahasa Malaysia during his time, was daring enough to call for and brought back the importance of the English language.
Hishamudin has to protect the legacy of his father.
This man should be brave like his father. After all, he wielded the keris once.
Eventually the decision will be ground breaking and a reflection of the leadership's resolve,vision and care of the rakyat.No stone will be left unturned to ensure that the rakyat is happy.The future of the children is not important as that will be someone else's problem.
All teachers involved in the program will be given goodies such as free mineral water,"I luv PM " tee shirts and a signed certificate from the PM.Its a great honor indeed.
To enhance the initiative , a further Rm 3.5 billion direct negotiated contract will be expedited for supply of hardware and software,
A high level committee comprising of the guys in white,Umno head honchos and university professors will also be established to do whatever it is they need to do.A special grant of Rm 200 million will also be entrusted to this committee to engage and establish whatever they can think of.
A special task force of 120 high level officials and Ministers will conduct arduous study trips to all countries (except African ,sub Sahara,Mongolia)to study in depth on the pedagogy adopted.Of particular interest will be Perth,Las Vegas,London and Milan.
A consultant will also be appointed to review and study the issue at hand and to come up with a new Master plan with nice,colorful presentations.A PR firm will also be engaged to rebrand the whole exercise.An events management company will be entrusted with scheduling launches of the new branding in all state capitals.
A special zone for Maths and Science (MSZ) will be developed in all corridors.A Rm 2 billion direct nego contract will be awarded to ensure success of this new concept.No other countries in the whole world have embarked on this ground breaking innovative MSZ before.The zones will have hotels,commercial complex,CIQ and an IPP.
Anon 19:39
You are cynical, aren't you. It's understandable. Many people are. Me included. Since TDM's time. All those big negotiated, turn-key and what not contracts, no tenders, no competitive bidding.
But we must continue to speak up against the bad and promote the good. However long it takes before things get better.
Perhaps you could use your beautiful English, well- constructed sentences and an apparently well-informed disposition to denounce the bad in clear and direct terms so that at least those not well versed in English or familiar with sarcasm can fully understand what you are trying to get at and help spread the message.
(Those with perfect English and can see sarcasm but are corrupt would not bother with what we say. Hopefully they will die out soon - die out as a breed).
Anon 19.39
Very easy to make fun..joking or not.This is serious forum..we discuss and make big issues not only try to be funny.
Thanks
Dato,
Our children learn English from strd 1 till form 5 - altogether they learn English for 11 years. Despite learning the language for 11 years, the majority of the school leavers still can't speak and read in English. There is something very wrong the way we teach English. Improve that first, lepas tu barulah nak ajar Science dan Math in English.
-sal-
In England..they also have same problem >>young kids can't speak English anymore yo.But badder is the raitings n spelink.
Actually some one told me that one needs only 1450 words to write a book..it may not be a shakespearean epic but the it gets the message across.
I have an ultra excellent Indian structural designer who can't write to save his own life but make do with point form reports.It works for me.
I think there is unnecessary worry about rural children not being able to "faham'. Nay, I say we are being totally negative here. Children learn fast. Let's teach them well, guide them, inspire them. Yes we can, and yes they can.
And for God's sake, the Govt once it has made a decision, should stick to it.
Kami pun asal dari kampung. Tapi boleh bertutur dan menulis BI. How? They just threw us into the deep end.
Bahasa zealots must realise that speaking and writing English doesn't make one less Malay.
One more thing: Saya baca juga karya Melayu tetapi sayang semua yg saya gemari ditulis dizaman 50an dan 60an.
La ni, suruh saya dengar sasterawan/cendikiawan, sori lah saya tak faham depa cakap apa.
Satu hari, dengar kat radio temubual seorang sasterawn. Dia duk sebut "polemik" lah, "isma" tu dan "isma" ni... Laaa, apa benda dia nak cakap ni. And why do most of them have this affected Indon(?) accent?
Melayu Optimis
dato,
was usage of bahasa malaysia the main reason for the decline in education standards?
or was it due to political expediency to deliberately lower the standards to accommodate as many as possible students to be labelled as graduates?
if the latter is true, then it aint matter whether english or malay is used.
Unless statistically proven wrong, my gut feel is that the day we threw meritocracy to the dogs in education, thats the end result we deserved-a bunch of unemployed graduates and a stagnant standard of living at best.
Use of English: The key is training teachers
By ARIF CHRISTOPHER BELL, Kuala Lumpur
2009/03/09
I REFER to the letter "Let's work with the ministry" (NST, March 3) from Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim of the Parents Action Group for Education (Page). I may be able to contribute several ideas on how we can collaborate with the Education Ministry.
I am an education consultant and was responsible for developing the Project to Improve English in Rural Schools (Piers) programme, which the writer mentioned, while I was working with the CfBT Education Trust.
Since January 2006, the project has shown that even students in rural areas, be they Malays, Chinese, Indians, Iban or Kadazan, are able to learn Maths and Science successfully in English.
The key to making this well-founded policy successful is to (re)train the teachers involved.
I would like to make the following points based on my experience of working as a teacher and education manager, both internationally and locally, since 1977:
- Students in the rural areas are able to learn Maths and Science effectively in English if the subjects are taught well.
In fact, they can learn better in English as they have to pay more attention to understanding the subjects. It also helps when teachers standardise the use of the language to teach the subjects.
Moreover, the quality materials and teaching aids available for learning Maths and Science in English are unmatched in any language.
Other educational systems, such as those in Europe and Singapore, which use English as the medium of instruction, have proven to be successful.
- Teachers are the key to ensuring the success of learning Maths and Science in English. They cannot be blamed for any failure if they are not given proper English proficiency training and, more importantly, school-based training to teach the subjects in English.
Even Maths and Science teachers who are proficient in English may end up teaching the subjects poorly if they are not aware of the linguistic elements involved in learning (especially in simplifying and standardising the language to enable students to comprehend better).
- There is nothing wrong with allowing bilingual or multilingual code-switching in the classrooms or outside if this helps in the learning process.
A gradual move from using English, together with other languages, only for lessons and activities towards more prominent use of the language in its standard form, would work well for both students and teachers.
The generosity of Negri Sembilan royal trusts (Tuanku Ja'afar Educational Trust, Tuanku Najihah Foundation and Yayasan Tunku Naquiyuddin), Yayasan Negri Sembilan, HSBC Malaysia and Hap Seng Consolidated has enabled the successful implementation of the Piers programme to raise the standard of English, Maths and Science in 110 primary schools, involving 340 teachers and 45,000 students in Negri Sembilan and Sabah since 2006.
This year, I am launching a secondary school adaptation programme which will use the same approach, with some improvements. This Secondary English Language Enrichment and Communication Teaching (Select) project aims to help young Malaysians get a quality education and better employment opportunities.
Select employs, supports and manages experienced and qualified native speakers as teachers and consultants to raise the standard of English, Maths and Science in secondary schools.
The first English Language teacher consultant will be based at a school in Kuala Pilah. This person will teach Communication English and collaborate with about 40 Malaysian colleagues and a cluster of six to 10 secondary schools.
The consultant will draw up a training programme to upgrade teachers' proficiency in English, improve teaching methodology and serve as a resource person and adviser to senior teachers.
The first Select project will be funded, again, by the three Negri Sembilan royal trusts, with the support of the education authorities. I am confident Select will be as successful as the Piers project.
I urge those interested, whether from the government or private sector, to consider a nationwide adoption of the delivery mechanism.
Moreover, there is no evidence to show that the use of Bahasa Malaysia will decline if English were to be used as the medium of instruction for the two technical subjects.
Ask the Chinese, Singaporeans, Dutch, Swedes and Germans, all of whom have successfully experienced English and other bilingual mediums of instruction in the education system of their country.
Melayu Optimis,
Ditto here.
I had no books to learn English from in the kampong, nothing except at school, read old English newspapers picked up literally from the roadside. Kampong boys now have better facilities, access to a lot of English reading materials. No reason why they cannot cope with PPMSI.
What is important is the teachers and the facilities provided to them and the children. Ben's viewpoints up here are very relevant. Hope the Ministry of Education and the GMP people read these.
No doubt GMP may be bent on opposing. I suppose a lot of these people are the product of Aliran Bahasa Melayu education system and many may not be strong in the English language themselves. I hope the allegation that many may lose the prospect of making money from writing, translating etc is not true. No doubt, some are diehard believers in the supremacy of the Malay language and a few may be nostalgic of the era of the Malay Empire.
But we have to progress, and progress fast. Indonesia with 220 million population using Bahasa Indonesia all along in recent history - have they progressed much? Have they made big strides in science and technology?
It's science and technology that that has made the West great, that has made US the strongest country in the world. So much about science and technology of the West is written in the English language. The younger generations should be made familiar with the terminologies, basic ideas and concepts by learning maths and science in English to enable them to understand, appreciate and be interested in the latest scientific and technological developments. Only then can we hope for speedy progress.
Language is a means to impart information - like a bridge transporting important goods between the giver and the receiver.
When that bridge (the language) is in shambles, nothing passes through. The most tragic thing is when neither the giver nor the receiver is adept at repairing or maintaining that bridge.
I went to a mission school in my school days. The teaching medium had just been ceonverted to Malay for a few years.
We could clearly see that some of the teachers were struggling with the language. But many of them were dedicated professionals and did their darned best to deliver the goods in Malay.
I have said many times in my blog postings - language is no barrier to knowledge. Schools must not be politicised. Education must be left to the experts without political interference of any kind.
The Japanese study in Japanese,
The Hongkies study in Cantonese
The Chinese study in Mandarin
The Germans study in German.
They don't study anything in a foreign language (except foreign language studies). They have no problems mastering technology and the arts!
If you want to talk about cumbersome scientific terms, I think the Chinese have it the worst. Some scientific terms need more than 10 Chinese characters to be expressed!
Yet, they have no problems grasping technology! Just look at all the China bootleg versions of the latest gadgets hitting the streets, sometimes mere weeks after the original debuts! Compare that know-how with the atrocious English in their user manuals!!
Too bad people are too caught up with the "political implications" of language use to see the real issues.
Ha nya nak kata
Kita ni tengah penin kepala nak pikiaq Bahasa Melayu ka Bahasa Inggeris ka, si Eyes Wide Open ni pulak nak tonjolkan Bahasa Cina, Bahasa India ka?
Lebaq sangat ka bukaq mata dia?
Ini lah jenis yang sentiasa nak ambik kesemptan saja. Bila bila masa saja. Asalkan depa boleh untung. Tak peduli apa.
Kalau ikut kata dia, kita kena ada sekolah dalam 20 bahasa, termasuk bahasa Jawa, bahasa Bugis, Bahasa Banjak.
Semacam pulak dia.
anon 10 March 2009 16:59
bahlol betoi engkau ni!
aku tengah support pengajaran kesemua subjeck dalam BM di sekolah kebangsaan la! baca la baik-baik dulu sebelum komen!
Nampak aje perkataan "bahasa cina" dah membabi buta nak mengkritik.
Kerana karenah makhluk macam engkau la negara kita hancur dalam perbelahan kaum!
Eyes Wide Open
By now you must have read the comment by Eyes Open Wider against you in the posting after this one.
Unfortunately, that person also has strong reservations about what you write or maybe your writing style.
In your comment in this posting above, if your intention is to support BM in all subjects, it is not clearly stated.
Your analogy of the bridge is unclear to say the least. In this posting people are talking about whether to use English or Malay for Maths and Science.
Why give examples of Honchus studying in Cantonese, Chinese studying in Mandarin? Why say students don't study anything in a foreign language? What were you trying to get at by saying those?
Make your point clearly, use relevant examples. Otherwise, as in this case, you appear to be the person yang menyebabkan perbalahan. If you are sincere, state your arguments clearly, Madam.
Now, don't go away grumbling that everbody is gunning or finding faults at you and start bahaloling people. This is a respectable blog and you must respect the blog owner as well as the readers. The person who criticised you didn't use such words.
You are an educationist or school teacher or whatever you said you are. God helps your pupils. This is where Ben's Education Consultant says it is very important to have good teachers for successful and effective teaching.
Anon 11 March 2009 18:07
I simply assumed that people here would have the brains to understand what I said. I'm sorry if I assumed wrongly, as you imply...
It never crossed my mind to assume that the readers here have the cognitive qualities of kindergarten children, where I have to spell out everything.
And to answer your question about my effectiveness as an educationist - 53% of my students are high achievers. Of those, I would say that about 20% are of natural ability. the other 80% are nurtured.
i just wish people who have no experience in education would just listen to those who do, instead of throwing in their 2 sen worth of "opinion" based on nothing but whatever prejudice they hold.
Eyes Wide Open
I'll make one more try at advising you. I don't want to distract readers or clutter this blog.
Just in this and the subsequent posting there are 3 persons who have basically similar opinion about you - Anon 13:24, Eyes Open Wider and me Anon 18:07. You should therefore ask yourself whether there is something wrong about what you write, how you write, etc.
You should be answering the questions in the 4th last para of my comment.
You should give regard to the last 3 paras of the comment innstead of accusing people of prejudice, etc.
If you insist on your stand and not bother about what others say I think you will not be welcome in any of the respectable blogs like Demi Negara and Sakmongkol. If you are, readers like the 3 of us will be taking you to task and you, and others, will get distracted and you will not get your points across, merely making a nuisance of yourself.
Eyes Open Wider has said that Sakmongkol may have linked your blog for some other consideration than your attitude. Change your attitude Madam. I suggest you answer those questions in my earlier comment - without being insulting and abusive.
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 22 – The teaching of science and mathematics in English should be continued to ensure Malaysian students, especially the Malays, are not left behind, said former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
He said the change to teach the two subjects in English from Bahasa Malaysia was to ensure students could master them and at the same time become more proficient in English, the number one language in the world.
“It is not aimed at neglecting Bahasa Malaysia. Furthermore, most publications on science and mathematics are in English.
“Take for example the cellular phone. If foreigners manufacture them equipped with cameras and the short-messaging facility but the manual is in English, can we used our science which is in Bahasa Malaysia to make the same hand phone? By the time we are done with the translation we will be left far behind,” he said at the “Malay Dilemma” discourse organised by the National Writers Association (Gapena) here today.
He also cited the dark ages of the Arabs where they had to learn everything from the Greeks.
“Obviously they could not ask the Greeks to translate their knowledge into Arabic. The solution then was for them to learn Greek so that they could have access to the knowledge in their possession. By doing this, the Arabs became a progressive race,” he said, adding that the same applied in the current scenario in the country.
He also said being proficient in two languages was a great asset and cited himself as an example.
“I studied in a Malay school for two years before my father transferred me to an English school. Thereafter all my education was in English. Did I lose my ability to use Bahasa Malaysia?
“It will not signify the end of the Malay race if we are to learn in English as well,” he said.
Apocryphalist
"you insist on your stand and not bother about what others say"
And what pray tell do you understand my stand to be? State it clearly so I can rebut you.
Better still, let's not clutter the good Dato's space - as you said. You are welcome to debate on my blog or I can go to whatever forum you prefer. Either way is fine with me.
And as to your assertions that 3 people opposing me is an indication of the error of my opinions...Here's a lesson from history for you. You would do well to read and pay attention.
Winston Churchill was completely ignored by the British Parliament when he tried to warn them about Hitler before WW2.
The nation later turned to him for leadership against Hitler during the war.
Now, I'm not comparing myself to Churchill.
All I'm saying is - opposition is not proof of error! Otherwise, if I get a few people to oppose you - would it be proof of YOUR error then?
Hahahahaha. Eyes Wide Open is confused and tembak sana sini. He shoots in the dark and thinks apocryphalis is Anon. No laaaa.. apocryphalis is me laaa EWO. (Apo sue me if you can nyah nyah nyah). In fact all the anons yang don't agree with you is me laaa. You wish.
Sedih kan folks. When you dont have facts and substance, you revert back to the style that you are made up of: personal attacks here and there, only this time he doesn't see WHO he wants to attack.
But you can't do anything now EWO because you have taken my advice and not reply me anymore. Unless of course you want to rescind your words. And manhood as well.
And the service I, Eyes Open Wider, is doing to this blog can only be correctly construed during those times this EWO guy takes his time off refuting ME, and thus relieving readers who come here to be educated and informed, from reading his senile ramblings. (By the way, talking about senility: do you happen to be Zorro also, EWO? I mean, you know, retired teacher etc etc... loves writing but devoid of meats?)
Eyes Wide Open
We are going to ignore you and the likes of you from now on. Pity you will be cluttering this respectable blog and wasting our time skipping you over.
In the comments to the posting before this you even challenged people to fight in your own blog. The person who first commented against you was correct, you ambil kesempatan nak tarik readers to your site.
Now you assume Apocryphalist to be Eyes Open Wider and make accusatory remarks against him. I don't think he will even bother to respond to you. It's his prerogative of course.
I have nothing against retired teachers like you (if EOW is correct) blogging but if you have a hidden agenda and are prone to accusastory and unacceptable language, better do it elsewhere.
This is the last time I am addressing you.
Sorry for a bit of hu-ha Dato Sak.
Eh? Sudah habis? Mana EWO? Dia orang besar. Mana nak layan orang kecil.
Mata buka besar. Sudah masuk sampah. Mata tutup rapat.
Teaching science and maths in English can have grave effects on Malaysia. Read my latest blog entry to find out more.
Thanks!
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