Malaysiakini.com（http://www.malaysiakini.com）
RM3.2 bil spent for Maths and Science in English, 14 May 2008
by Rahmah Ghazali
The government has spent a total of RM3.2 billion over the past five years to carry out the teaching of Science and Mathematics in English, Deputy Education Minister Razali Ismail told the Dewan Rakyat today.
MCPX Out of the amount, the government paid a whopping RM2.21 billion for the purchase of information and computer technology (ICT) equipments.
The rest of the expenditure went to the payment for educational incentives (RM638 million), teachers’ training (RM317 million) and ICT software (RM2.4 million).
The figures were revealed by Razali when replying to Nga Kor Ming (DAP-Taiping) who wanted to know the cost to implement the teaching of Science and Mathematics in English since 2003.
In a supplementary question, Azmin Ali (PKR-Gombak) trained his sights on the hefty sum used for the procurement of ICT equipment.
"The purpose of it (the amount spent) was not to educate, but to make a contract for cronies," claimed Azmin, who wanted to know which company was awarded the contract to supply the equipment.
The deputy minister however did not respond.
Mixed response from parents
At a press conference later, Education Minister Hishammuddin Hussein who was asked on the matter could not provide the name of the company which was given the project.
"I’ll give the (names) when I get them," he told reporters.
On the effectiveness of the policy, Hishammuddin said he has been getting mixed responses from parents in urban and rural areas.
"But at the end of the day, I feel that it revolves around the fear that it will affect the (usage of) Malay language (in schools)," he said, adding that vernacular schools have also rejected the policy.
Teaching Science and Maths in English was the brainchild of former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad to improve students proficiency in the language.
The policy was implemented in all national schools but an alternative formula was reached for the vernacular Chinese schools as a compromise after strong protests from the community.
(2) English right choice for science and maths, 16 May 2008
by Concerned Parent
As a parent, I am particularly concerned that the government is considering changing the teaching of Mathematics and Science from English to the mother tongue. I always believed that the government made the right decision to change the teaching of these two subjects to English back in 2003 and we should not make a U-turn now.
After all, English is the language of the Internet and the global communication language for practically every important aspect of interaction in this era of globalisation. Just go to any established and well-known company in Malaysia (or anywhere else in the world for that matter) and you can see for yourselves the importance of English and it being the top prerequisite for employment and for career growth.
Furthermore, with English, you can do research on the Internet to supplement and enhance your knowledge, much more than what you can get from books. More often than not, you will also find up-to-date information on the Internet compared to what the books contain. However, to use this important tool, you need to be well versed in English, not Bahasa Malaysia or Mandarin or Tamil.
Now, I am very suspicious of the so-called ‘NGOs’ and the political parties who are calling for this regressive move to revert the teaching of these two subjects back to the mother tongue. They claim that they represent majority of the rakyat in calling for the use of the mother tongue to teach these subjects and that this is more effective. Truth is, they do not represent me or the people I know!
There are indications that recent elections result indicate that the implementation of English to teach these two subjects has not gone down very well, but hey, this is not an easy transition. This is like a big ship trying to make a U-turn and it takes time. Five years to undo the damage done by Dr Mahathir Mohamad when he decided to change the medium of instruction to BM many years back cannot be undone suddenly. But we have to persevere and persist because while we are taking one step backward, we are moving three steps forward.
Some parties also fear the threat of the erosion of their ethnic roots, culture and customs in this country and they believe that the way to prevent this erosion is by ensuring that schools teach important subjects in their respective mother tongues. But is this a threat real? Let me be the first to tell you that I am a Chinese who was educated in Singapore from primary through secondary and then on to the US to obtain my university degree. Never at any one time have I considered myself other than a Chinese, and I still celebrate Chinese New Year and most of all, the different festivals celebrated in Malaysia with my family and relatives.
Weddings are in accordance to the Chinese customs. Besides, just look at Singapore. Have they lost their ethnic roots or their cultural background? Not a single bit! In fact, they have maintained their roots while their citizens can all be proud of the fast development in their country while leaving Malaysia behind to smell the dust as they progress. A large part of the reason why this is so is because the Singapore education system serves the sole purpose of educating their children and not being sidetracked by useless distractions like trying to teach Mathematics and Science in the mother tongue just because of some irrational and unfounded fear of loss of ethnic roots.
The truth is, at a time when we should all be integrating as Malaysians to progress and compete globally, many ethnic-based NGOs and politicians are still fiercely defending racial polarisation. And they are using our children as pawns to fight their stupid war. However, they probably have nothing to lose anyway, because most of them are so wealthy that they can afford to send their children overseas for their education while leaving our children to fight their senseless ethnic war.
Therefore, I call upon all parents who love your children and your children's children to all rise up and oppose the move to revert to teaching mathematics and science in mother's tongue. If you don't fight for this now, I dread to think what will happen to our future generations while the government and these ethnic based NGOs gamble with our children's future. We have everything to lose if this proposal is implemented.
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