Info sessions on language policy next week

Information sessions will be carried out in all schools nationwide starting next week to explain the policy on 'Upholding Bahasa Malaysia and Strengthening the English Language', Deputy Education Minister Wee Ka Siong said.

This follows the first session at the ministry yesterday carried out by the Deputy Prime Minister, Muhyiddin Yassin, who is also Education Minister.

Earlier, Wee presented gold medals to 104 students who passed their International Competitions and Assessments for Schools (ICAS) 2011, a world-class assessment programme by the University of New South Wales, Australia, at the National Science Centre here today.

About 49,000 students in Malaysia took the tests covering five subjects namely Computer Skills, Science, Mathematics, English and Writing, with 112 gold medals won by 104 Malaysian students.

Wee said the ministry was preparing a circular on the policy which would be distributed to the state education departments and district education offices and later to be channelled to the ground.

Wee also reminded school principals and teachers to read the circular first and not to misinterpret the policy.

Asked on the statement by former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamed who said that the abolition of the policy on Teaching and Learning of Science and Mathematics in English (PPSMI) could cause Malaysia to be left behind in the field of Science and Mathematics, Wee said the country should take the example of the successful economic powers such as China.

"They don't use English but they are still able to launch a rocket," he said.

Asked on the transitional period from PPSMI to MBMMBI which was said to take too long, he said the period was normal.

"The transition from one system to another system takes time; it was the same in the transition from English to Bahasa Melayu as a medium of instruction which took 12 years," he said.

MBMMBI replaces PPSMI

MBMMBI was introduced to replace PPSMI which will be abolished in 2012 after it was found that the policy failed to achieve its objectives to raise the standard of English among students.

At the same time the policy was also found to have affected the achievement of students in the two subjects, especially those in the rural areas.

At the ceremony today, Clifford Sia Yin Shen, 16, from Kian Kok Middle School, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah won three gold medals.

Several other students won two gold medals, namely Khalesa Mohammad Sharif, 10, from SK Convent(1) Bukit Nanas Kuala Lumpur; Bryan Ng Tung Chen, 9, from SJK (C) Sin Min A, Sungai Petani; Nicol Yong Jia Jia, 11, from Sekolah Sri Nobel, Kelana Jaya; Nigel Lee, 11, from SR Sri Sempurna, Kuala Lumpur; Tan Tian Rong, 17, from SMK St Francis, Melaka, and Chang Bing Yen, 18, from Han Chiang High School, Penang.

- Bernama