[lg policy] Malaysia: Why scrap a good policy?

[Harold Schiffman]

Why scrap a good policy?

MANY felt disappointed and let down by the decision taken by the
Education Ministry to abolish the teaching of Science and Mathematics
in English (or better known by its Malay acronym PPSMI). Saying that
teachers have to use Bahasa Malaysia (BM) to cater to students who do
not understand English does not present a true picture of what is
happening in schools.

The problem does not lie entirely with the students; difficulty arose
because of teachers’ proficiency too.When PPSMI was introduced almost
seven years ago, no proper groundwork was laid to prepare for the
transition. Teachers who had been teaching in BM were forced to switch
to English. One must appreciate the difficulties they faced. The
ministry implemented some programmes to help these teachers but
unfortunately the momentum lasted only a couple of years. The
programmes then died a natural death.

By right, heads of schools should have been tasked with ensuring that
teachers conscientiously and continuously upgrade their proficiency,
at the same time providing the necessary support. Lack of seriousness
and commitment has led to the demise of good policies. The ministry
says the policy is ‘flawed’ but provides no lucid analysis to support
this assertion. Surely such a pronouncement requires more substantial
and clear arguments.

Merely quoting two research reports done by two university
educationists, in my view, is quite inadequate. Who the respondents
were, the schools involved and what the actual findings were, have not
been clearly outlined or explained. We would certainly like to read
the actual findings in order to draw our own conclusions. Merely
making general statements to justify a reversal of policy seems like a
tactic to lull the unsuspecting public to go along with its ideas
without question.

The ministry has a research arm — The Education Planning and Research
Department — but was it involved in conducting any study on the
matter?

Notwithstanding all the arguments about English being the language of
Science and Technology, doing away with PPSMI at this point is
short-sighted and unwise.

The ministry has been talking about strengthening the English
Language, but nothing of value has come of it.

The first Year 1 English textbook for 2011 produced for such a purpose
was found to be riddled with so many language errors that it had to be
recalled a few months ago.

Apart from the millions of ringgit gone to waste, in those six months
one can only assume our children had picked up some really bad
English!

So, how does this fit into the ministry’s aspirations of strengthening
the English Language. Considering that the ministry has direct control
over the publication of school textbooks, it begs the question as to
why a Year 1 book can turn out to be such a mess.

Can the ministry ever get the textbook problem sorted out?

The public is also appalled by the recent PMR English paper which was
allegedly full of language mistakes as well.

The Malaysian Examinations Syndicate should be taken to task for this fiasco.

Why is the ministry not serious about its own policy to strengthen the
English Language?

Also, the hiring of a few hundred British and American teachers to
‘help’ us sounds rather grand but it is really an ad hoc measure.

Is there a framework against which the outcome of this exercise can be
gauged? Who is assessing the situation on the ground? Can we justify
the amount of money spent?

All these questions beg answers. One cannot turn decades of negligence
into success overnight with the hiring of a few native speakers.

The ministry keeps insisting that parents should be more supportive.
Contrary to what it believes, parents are all for making our education
system a success.

Many parents have argued for PPSMI to continue.

At least give schools the option to choose. Good sense tells us that
all parents will support good and sound education policies that come
with proper implementation procedures.

If such policies go against good practices, parents will be doing a
disservice and injustice to their children and the nation if they do
not voice their displeasure.

R. SANDRA

http://thestar.com.my/education/story.asp?file=/2011/10/23/education/9730036&sec=education

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