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<div class="gmail-pw-hidden-cp"><div class="gmail-headline gmail-story-pg"><h1>Accept that English is important
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Thursday, 9 Aug 2018
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<div id="gmail-slcontent_0_sleft_0_storyDiv" class="gmail-story"><p>FIRST
and foremost, I would like to congratulate Dr Maszlee Malik on his
appointment as Education Minister in the Pakatan Harapan government. It
is not an easy task but it could be less complicated if he puts his ears
to the ground.</p>
<p>I appreciate his vision for a holistic education but after listening
to his views at a recent public forum and on TV, I have doubts over
whether it will materialise.</p><div class="gmail-sasStoryRectPos"></div>
<p>What this country needs is to go back to the old, time-tested
education system. We then had English-medium schools using the Cambridge
syllabus, which is no different from those offered at private
international schools now.</p>
<p>Despite the various efforts of previous education ministers in the
Barisan Nasional government, the level of English competency among
students remained very low. This is primarily due to the lack of a
conducive English environment in national schools (<em>sekolah kebangsaan</em>) despite the great efforts of teachers and the facilities provided.</p><div class="gmail-inlineAd" style="float:left;width:100%">
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<p>image:
<a href="https://content.thestar.com.my/smg/settag/name=lotame/tags=all,Demo_Age_35to44_enr,Demo_Age_55to64_enr,Demo_Age_18to24_enr,Demo_Age_25to34_enr,Demo_Gender_Male_enr,Demo_Age_13to17_enr,Demo_Age_65plus_enr,Demo_Age_45to54_enr,Demo_Gender_Female_enr">https://content.thestar.com.my/smg/settag/name=lotame/tags=all,Demo_Age_35to44_enr,Demo_Age_55to64_enr,Demo_Age_18to24_enr,Demo_Age_25to34_enr,Demo_Gender_Male_enr,Demo_Age_13to17_enr,Demo_Age_65plus_enr,Demo_Age_45to54_enr,Demo_Gender_Female_enr</a></p>
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<p>Being handicapped in the language, many students are unable to read books in English or even English newspapers.</p>
<p>We are now in an ironic situation where the national school is not
the school of choice among parents who can afford other options. This
was not the case when the medium of instruction in schools was English.
Back then, there was a good mix of races in the classes in both urban
and rural schools.</p>
<p>While it is not easy to go back to the old system, at least the
Pakatan government can convert some selected schools, like Batu Road
Boys School and Batu Road Girls School, into English medium beginning
from Primary One. Parents will then have a choice of schools to enrol
their children.</p>
<p>We have to be realistic. Despite the National Education Policy and <em>Dasar Bahasa Kebangsaan</em>
(National Language Policy), English will still be more important as the
language of commerce, diplomacy and academia in this country. Hence, we
should not deny our children an English education, which today is
accessible mainly by the elites.</p>
<p>Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has raised concern over the
poor English competency of civil servants. The rot started in school but
it was not the fault of the students, teachers or parents. It was due
to the absence of a conducive English environment in national schools. </p></div></article></div><span><br>Read more at <a href="https://www.thestar.com.my/opinion/letters/2018/08/09/accept-that-english-is-important/#S1AFx2vY9LzaXTHB.99">https://www.thestar.com.my/opinion/letters/2018/08/09/accept-that-english-is-important/#S1AFx2vY9LzaXTHB.99</a></span></div>
<br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div>
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