PAS acting president Abdul Hadi Awang did not contradict the party's stand when he reportedly accepted the policy on the teaching of Mathematics and Science in English at a dialogue with the people of Terengganu yesterday, said several party leaders.

Youth chief Mahfuz Omar said that Hadi, who is also Terengganu menteri besar, was speaking in the context of the state government's response to the controversial language switch first proposed in May by Umno and adopted by the ruling coalition in October.

"What he meant was the Terengganu state government would have no other choice but to implement an education policy which had been decided by the federal government unless the policy is scrapped.

"But it does not mean that PAS as a party agrees to the language switch. Our stand is the same it is not beneficial to the students and we will continue to rally support to oppose the switch," said Mahfuz when contacted.

Limited power over policy

He said Hadi's 'acceptance' of the language switch must be understood as the result of limited power that any state government has over education policy.

The ninth schedule of the federal constitution stipulates that education at all levels primary, secondary, university, vocational, and technical is among the 27 matters under the federal government's prerogative, he added.

Mahfuz said the party will continue with campaigns to oppose the language switch in accordance with the party's stand which had been decided by the central committee.

PAS vice-president Dr Hasan Ali said newspapers had misreported Hadi's statement today when they gave the impression that the Terengganu state chief had made an about-turn on the language switch.

An English daily quoted Hadi as telling a dialogue with Terengganu people working outside the state who had returned for Hari Raya Aidilfitri that PAS had decided to accept the policy but was still opposing it in principle because of the party's central committee's resolution on the matter.

However, Hasan explained that "the Terengganu government is obliged to follow the instruction from the federal government over education matters no matter how much it disagrees with a policy".

Cannot isolate people

"The state government cannot reject the switch unless it wants its people to be isolated from the mainstream education system and the national examinations," added the party's education bureau chief who had recently coordinated a 'Save the National Language' campaign to oppose the language switch.

Hasan said the party will organise with its allies in Barisan Alternatif soon a nationwide roadshow to explain to Malaysians why the switch meant more harm than good to students due to the lack of study and planning.

He added arrangements will be made for Hadi who had just returned from overseas and had been pre-occupied with different commitments over the past couple of months to speak at the roadshow with other BA leaders.

Meanwhile, party central committee member Dr Mohd Hatta Mohd Ramli said he expected some party leaders to discuss Hadi's statement at the upcoming committee meeting scheduled for Dec 22.

"We don't want the statement to cause confusion among party members and the public because of the way it was reported in newspapers, we need to explain it properly to our supporters," said the political secretary to Hadi, who is also the parliamentary opposition leader.

No compromise on switch

Another central committee member Dr Lo' Lo' Ghazali also said she would seek clarification from Hadi at the meeting as "it is premature to comment on the matter now and what we know is only based on newspaper reports".

She said it is unlikely that PAS will compromise on the language switch which has great impact on the academic performance of students in future.

PAS leaders including Hadi had met with Chinese education movements Dong Zong and Jiao Zong in August to discuss the language switch for Science and Maths in Year One, Form One, and Lower Six in government schools next year.

The party as well as the two groups have since requested for the government to revoke the decision on the grounds that the switch could affect the learning of students if they are forced to learn the two subjects in a language other than their mother tongue.