While pupils in Year Two next year have been given the option to study Science and Mathematics in English (PPSMI), the Parents Action Group for Education Malaysia (Page) and Jaringan Melayu Malaysia (JMM) want it to be extended to those in Year One as well.

Page chairperson Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim said it welcomed the government’s decision but feels it should be extended further than the 2017 period set by the government.

Pupils and parents, Noor Azimah said, should be given the option of learning both subjects in English.

Her views are shared by JMM president Azwanddin Hamzah, who said Page and JMM also pledged to assist the Education Ministry and the government to identify ways to improve English as a medium of instruction for Science and Mathematics.

“Page wants the option to be extended to Year One as this policy has been in place for nine years and it has proven to be successful. Why don’t we further strengthen what we have, rather than do away with it?

NONE“Teaching Science and Mathematics in English is beneficial for nation-building and we should not limit or restrict it to a certain period. We feel that the option should be given to Year Two and Year One indefinitely rather than giving a time frame. This policy should be timeless and it should be improved further rather than putting a stop to it.” Azwanddin (right in photo) said.

Noor Azimah said pupils preferred to answer their examination questions in English.

“Although the teachers may not be able to grasp the language, the pupils are resilient and resourceful as they can learn from television,  books and Internet. There are many visual aids in English. Hence, why not continue on with this policy?

“Furthermore, studies show 80 percent of pupils prefer to answer Additional Maths, Modern Maths, Biology, Chemistry, Physics in English. What is the difficuty for teachers to start teaching them in Year One as they are doing it anyway,” she asked.

Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced last Friday that pupils would have the option of learning science and mathematics in English from Year Two next year, and in secondary schools as well.

'Rural schools not marginalised'

Noor Azimah denied that rural schools will be marginalised if Science and Maths are taught in English.

Using last year's SPM results as an example, she said rural pupils outperformed urban ones in Science.

“The rural students recorded 92.3 passes in Science as compared to 91 percent. So the disparity may be small, it justifies that the rural students are not at a disadvantage. In fact, the performance of rural students is on the increase using English.

“If you look at the performance of rural and urban students in these exams, the graph is narrowing down or converging (in their performance of Science and Maths in English),” she said.

Noor Azimah also supports former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s call for a referendum to decide on the policy.

She said as an experienced statesman, Mahathir realises the importance of the subjects being taught in English.

On Nov 4, Mahathir had asked that a referendum be done to identify whether parents from poor family prefer to have the subjects taught in Bahasa Malaysia or English.

She said the lingua franca of Science and Maths is in English and that is something of an advantage for children to be taught in that language.

JMM: What’s next?

Azwanddin said Page and JMM will go back to the parents on its next move.

“As parents, I can say we are relieved that our children are not being treated as guinea pigs, today studying in English and tomorrow studying in Bahasa Malaysia or in Tamil or Mandarin. We are relieved over the government’s decision in giving the option to parents,” he said.

“Page and JMM will sit down and discuss further with parents on what is next. We will not demonstrate or send a memorandum to Muhyiddin or the government as this involves education. We want an avenue to discuss with them within a month or two, and maybe we will participate and propose solutions to the education woes.”

He urged the media to give Page and JMM time to gather input from the relevant parents for it to forward to the ministry.

Noor Azizah hoped that Page could give its input in a review of the education system which would be tabled by Muhyiddin in December.

“Parents who want the option for their children to study Science and Maths in English must inform the school headmasters. We do not want what we had struggled for not to be followed by the schools,” she emphasised.

VIDEO | 9.23 mins