Teaching Science, Maths in English not the answer
To be sure, the move to improve our students' command of English is both laudable and necessary. But I'm worried that in the haste to implement this education policy, it may backfire.
The students' command of English must be improved first before they can be tested in Science and Mathematics. For the students whose command of English is already poor, to learn Science and Mathematics in English will be an extra burden.
In the short term, we may well see a drop in performance in these two subjects. For those who are simple-minded, they may conveniently blame this on the unsuitability of teaching Science and Mathematics in English and ultimately the education policy is revoked like so many of its predecessors.
A generation of students is unfortunately used as guinea pigs. A lot of time and money is wasted but nothing is accomplished. Worse still, their English hasn't improved, and they didn't learn anything in Science and Mathematics. Education is the basis of nation building and it is too important to be trifled with.
Hoping that teaching Science and Mathematics in English will improve the standard of English is like putting the cart before the horse and hoping that the cart will induce the horse to pull it. It just doesn't make sense.
What the education ministry ought to do is to teach English at an earlier age, have better trained English teachers and demand higher passing grade for the English subject.
