How did the level of English competency among Malay Malaysians fall to such a poor state? Malay graduates are said to be non-employable because their poor command of English, yet Chinese graduates who went to the same university have no problem in finding jobs. What happened at the universities?

The proposal to reintroduce English-medium schools was countered by Umno supreme council to just the teaching of science and mathematics in English. I totally disagree with the idea as learning math in English does not improve one's command of English. We may end up with students with poorer performance of both English and math.

Science is a very specialised subject with its own set of terms that do not necessarily lead to the improvement of the students' vocabulary or command of English for that matter. The teaching of science and math in English may result in a poorer command of all the subjects concerned. Will the Education Ministry then rethink its the policy and revert to the current system?

The English curriculum we have in place in our schools is fine. However, its implementation leaves much to be desired. I think the English textbooks we have are not too bad as their level is appropriate for the different ages. After all, we do not expect our students to speak the Queen's English.

The problem is that the students do not have proper instruction and enough hours of contact in English. There are many private schools running the same national curriculum but the command of English in those schools is better.

This suggests that the system in place is sufficient but the implementation is poor in public schools. I am sure there are many qualified English teachers out there and the ministry should try to attract more highly qualified and quality teachers to teach English classes.

Furthermore, the methods of teaching English as a second language can be improved if the ministry is willing to listen to parents and experts on suggestions. The schools should find ways to overcome the 'phobia' of English. For example, school fliers and announcements on notice boards can be made in English.

Students should be encouraged to speak in English in everyday conversation and teachers should facilitate these activities. These examples may seem mundane but they are practical solutions that don't cost a sen. Very serious effort is needed to give students ample opportunity to practise oral and written English.

After all, if we were to learn a foreign language, for example German, we will not start by trying to learn math and science in German.