The abolition of the Teaching of Science and Mathematics in English,
or PPMSI, is premature, as nine years is too short a time to assess the
accountability of a project, says Aisha Ahmad, president of the
Montessori Association of Malaysia and member of Parents Action Group
for Education Malaysia (PAGE).
"How do you measure, gauge and confirm accountability in a project
which hasn't been allowed to finish? These children who have been
studying [Science and Mathematics in English] for 8 to 9 years, are now
being told to flip to another language," she said in an interview with
BFM recently.
Earlier this morning, PAGE had submitted a letter of appeal to the
Prime Minister, asking for PPSMI to remain as an option for children of
government schools nationwide. It has been two years since PAGE first
began campaigning against the abolition of the policy in 2009. PPSMI was
first introduced in primary and secondary schools by former premier Tun
Dr Mahathir Mohamad in 2003.
Since 2009, PAGE has sent seven memorandums to the government, to no avail.
Aisha says that learning Science and Mathematics in English would
allow children a better chance of employability and more exposure in
future.
Asked about how rural children will be affected by PPSMI, she said
"no child is unteachable", as all one needs is a good environment to
immerse in the language. She says parents of rural schoolchildren have
indicated that they want their children to continue learning the two
subjects in English, and that suddenly reverting to Mathematics and
Science being taught in Malay would be "unfair" for children and
teachers "who have already gained momentum in thinking and learning in
English".
One suggestion was to give students the option to learn Science and
Mathematics in either English or Malay, which benefited not only
children but gave teachers the satisfaction of teaching in both
languages as well.
"What if they want to learn it in English -- what about those
children? You're compelling a situation on them... To compel children to
learn in a certain way just for the sake of a policy will do more
damage to the child," she adds.
In the following interview with BFM, Aisha also talks about how PAGE
will respond should the government spurn its communication efforts, how
children have been affected by the flip-flopping of the PPSMI policy, as
well as whether teachers should undergo more language training before
being certified as teachers.
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