A leopard???

Two headlines:

 “Zaid  sticking to his decision” and “Anwar  branded a hypocrite on ISA”.

 A study in contrasts. One quits and the other stayed put for more than 10 years. People can and do change but does the leopard change its spots?

Language is no barrier

The letter which appeared in the star of 10 September 2008, from a 19 year old student might not sway the opinion of those in favour of continuing teaching science and mathematics in English to Malaysian students. Some highlights:

"I have found that my friends and I have not had much problem switching between languages even though we were taught S & M in three different languages. So I can conclude through my experience, and I’m sure most students would agree, that language isn’t the issue here.

However, the quality of education in these two subjects has greatly deteriorated over the years.

I say, settle on one language and focus on improving the quality of our education."

There was another letter which appeared in the nst of 11 September 2008. Some highlights:

"Rembau member of parliament Khairy Jamaluddin ("It's high time we ditched this policy" -- NST, Sept 9) makes an important point in questioning the policy of teaching Science and Maths in English: that it goes against the core value of educational equity for all social strata.

The policy has a strong class bias, favouring children from urban families with higher income.

It acts to widen gaps between rich and poor, urban and rural."

The main gist of this ongoing debate to me is the deteriorating quality of education in this country and the unequal distribution of opportunities to deserving students. The victims are the students. A flawed policy must be acknowledged as such. It is not too late to take remedial action and follow the recommendations from the study, ie, improve the English language standards but not by teaching other subjects in the language. The emphasis should be teaching the language itself and improving the overall education system.

Teaching of science and maths in English

I thought the letter from KJ which appeared in the nst  of 9^th September 2008 quite balanced.

Some highlights:

"The issue here is not the importance of English.

Furthermore, the problems and weaknesses of this policy are not confined to one ethnic group. The study revealed that the ones who gained from the policy were a small percentage of Malay students from upper middle-class families who went to good, urban schools. The paper further showed that even Chinese students struggled with learning Maths and Science when taught in English, demonstrating that this is a problem that cuts across ethnic lines.

They don't need to be taught Maths and Science in English to read reference books in English later on. They just need to be proficient in English, which clearly this policy has failed to achieve.

It is high time we ditched this policy for the failure that it is and learnt from an episode of a flawed and ill-conceived policy defeating what were, I presume, noble intentions."

There was another letter which appeared in the star  of 8^th September 2008 on the same topic  from someone who was taught science and maths in Bahasa Malaysia.

Some highlights:

"Hence, my main points are:

1. It is not important for English to be the medium of instruction for Science and Mathematics. Stop wasting money and resources trying to implement this.

2. The standard of English in our schools has been deteriorating for so long that many of the teachers we have in schools are themselves not proficient in English.

3. The problem is the teaching of the English language itself. Don’t send Science and Mathematics teachers for English courses when some English teachers themselves need English courses, and English teachers who don’t need English courses need a useful syllabus from which to teach!

5. Don’t make the use of Bahasa Malaysia the scapegoat. It is important for Bahasa Malaysia to remain the medium of instruction in schools for the sake of national identity, which is vital for genuine national unity.

Finally, please identify and address the real problems in our school system.

Make sure Science and Mathematics are taught properly, and don’t discriminate against students who are poor in English but may have the aptitude for Science or Mathematics."

Food for thought.

Politically blind and tone deaf?

The article with the above headline which appeared in the sun of 8^th September 2008 highlights the situation fair minded Malaysians are facing now.

The next to last paragraph in the article was especially telling:

As PR leader, a politician from Penang, and a man who says he will abolish the New Economic Policy and by extension an economic policy based on racial requirements rather than need, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has yet to take a public stand on this issue. His silence is disappointing. It also suggests political analysts who laud PR as breaking the mould of racial politics are deluding themselves. What was heralded as a "new dawn" in Malaysian politics may well turn out to be a "false dawn".

Politicians who are just plain arrogant abound in this day and age, there is no other word for this resurgence of uncouth behaviour. The thinking that ‘we’, a particular community, are the only group entitled to call this fair land our home is the height of folly. Even in the heat of election campaigning, there is no excuse for such utterances. There still persist that idea, I’m not sure who planted it, that the rest be damned, we can make it on our own.

Reality check is in order here. We are in this together, sink or swim as one. That should be the rallying call. There are bigger challenges out there in the big bad world and as a tiny nation, we must, put aside all differences and come together as one. That is the only choice for us.