PPSMI students given option to continue in English
The real problem is with the deterioration of standards in the Malay-medium schools. The selection and promotion of teachers in these schools, like in the rest of the public service is based on race whereby mediocre and incompetent educators are given preference in recruitment and promotion over their much better colleagues.
This is because Umno has to find jobs for these incompetent people, who in the past have been their vote bank. The biggest losers, as a result of this system, are the children of the majority Malays who receive a lousy education.
Most of the Chinese send their children to the better run Chinese or private schools. If the people were given a choice, the chances are a large majority would opt for English-medium schools. Perhaps Pakatan Rakyat could make it an election issue to garner more votes.
Onyourtoes: Pemerhati, I agree with your observation fully. It does not matter we have PPSMI or not, the reality is the national schools have gone down drain simply because the vast majority of the teachers are lousy and most headmasters are disinterested in managing the schools.
The education minister must humbly admit that no one respects national schools anymore. The lack of respect is not just because of the language. It is the work culture, the value and archaic world view that these schools are promoting.
TC: I am happy that the DPM has seen the light, no matter that it is politically motivated or not. As long as my children benefit from this, I am relieved.
Call me selfish or parochial, but I have given up on this country changing for the better even with Pakatan at the helm.
Loyal Malaysian: Let's give some credit to the Education Ministry for acceding to some of the parents' demand - in this case, a proper soft landing for the PPSMI (Teaching of Science and Maths in English) students.
With PAS and PKR on record as opposing the continued implementation of the PPSMI, I must commend the BN for being brave enough to do what is right, rather than what is politically expedient.
Puchong Mali: I really do not see how this decision can improve the standard of English of our children in the long run.
What we should fight for is better teaching of English language instead of this half-baked PPSMI. This means demanding more English language class time at all levels of school and more resources devoted to training English-language teachers.
Yet here, many of us are thanking DPM Muhyiddin Yassin for his two-step-backward-one-step-forward political decision.
Manjit Bhatia: This policy reversal amounts to a political backdown. But this backdown is a purely political decision. I'm convinced it's only a phyrric victory for Malaysian parents and their children. As such, the backdown is short-term.
The reversion to Bahasa Malaysia will come swiftly after the next election, depending on the size of Umno-BN's victory.
The problems with Malaysia's education are as intractable as they are structural - the result of its long-term and systematic political bastardisation by Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Najib Razak and Muhyiddin.
The entire Malaysian school curriculum is screwed and pointless. Malaysian teachers are hopeless with their English-language skills and their teaching pedagogies.
To reform, requires large-scale structural change. But the regime has neither the political will nor inclination to do so.
1M: "Asked about Mahathir's comment that the reversal of the policy might cost the ruling BN government votes, Muhyiddin said: Mahathir is the greatest supporter of the BN. I hope he also understands that we didn't make this decision carelessly."
It looks like political consideration is more important than our country's future. Nevertheless, well done to all parents, we should celebrate this decision.
Blind Freddo: To allow parents to decide whether they want their children educated in English or Bahasa Malaysia would just add another level of chaos to an already chaotic education system.
You simply cannot have 20 different education philosophies in one country. But I suppose you don't have a choice when the state education system is pegged at the lowest possible level of mediocrity, political interference and political indecision is rife, and education is seen as a easy means of religious indoctrination.
Good men: The whole education system needs revamping. Not only do we need to master English and Bahasa Malaysia, we need to master Chinese also.
Many who have been through the Chinese school system already do, and hence are at an advantage. We need an education system that gives our youth the opportunity to excel, and not compete in a race to the bottom.
David Dass: The DPM's clarification prompts the question why the PPSMI had not been implemented successfully. If the rationale for the teaching of Science and Maths in English still holds strong then the decision should not be to scrap the PPSMI, but to try find some other way to teach English.
The conclusion was reached a long time ago that unless some subjects were taught in English there would be little or no motivation to learn the language. In fact, Mahathir even suggested a return to English schools.
If there is no environment for the learning and use of the English language - English will fast disappear as a resource for the nation. Mahathir described the importance of English for the teaching of science where developments take place rapidly beyond the pace of the translator.
There is also the question of whether our children are handicapped when they reach college-level science and maths. We should not underestimate the challenges we face in the years ahead when our oil and gas reserves run out.
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