The letter to the editor which appeared in the star of 20th November 2008 seems appropriate.
The most relevant part for me:
“Our education system is clearly failing. To make matters worse, we suddenly change our teaching medium for Science and Mathematics to English without proper consultation and preparation.
We have to stop simplifying our problem by blaming the medium. No language can cure this illness. I bet even if we change the medium to totally English, there will be no change in the quality of our graduates.
We will still be producing robots but perhaps English-speaking robots. “
My sentiments exactly - the medium of instruction is not the culprit. When we get the basics right, the product of the Malaysian education system would be on par with the best in the world. At the moment we are almost always at the bottom of the ladder, neither here nor there with the children, the victims. Of course, the leaders would never take responsibility for the debacle, safe in their cocoons. The common people are the ones who continue to suffer.
Please, oh please, do something positive before more innocents become victims of ill-conceived ideas. Put aside the pride, and just for once, come together for the sake of the nation.
