I refer to the Malaysiakini report Language march: Tear gas fired .
I am very disturbed by the coalition against the teaching of science and maths in English (GMP) which wants to put an end to the language switch just after eight years of implementation. I would like to put forth a few points.
Firstly, would teaching mathematics and science in English erode the spirit of the national language as enshrined in the federal constitution? Let’s consider Singapore. Singapore’s national language as enshrined in its constitution is Bahasa Melayu. But all subjects are taught in English and each major ethnic group is required to take up their mother tongue language. So we have not come to their level yet.
Currently in Malaysia, all subjects except for science and mathematics are taught in Bahasa Malaysia, so what is the fuss? By coming forth to protest in the name of the national language rather than raise concerns of the accessibility of rural schools to resources that would empower both teachers and students to teach and study these subjects in English is definitely off tangent.
Let me digress to point out the weaknesses in the implementation of this policy so far:
1. The ministry implemented the policy cross-sectionally meaning, all of a sudden, students who had been studying mathematics and science (M&S) in their mother tongue had to adapt to the language switch.
I was one of them, starting with Mandarin (in primary school), followed by Bahasa Malaysia (in secondary school) and finally English (for STPM). All the transitions I experienced were tiring.
What the ministry should have done was implement the teaching of maths and science in English starting from primary school or secondary school, instead of injecting it at different transition points.
2. I had firsthand experience with freshly-graduated maths and science teacher struggling to teach the subjects in English because of their formal training in Bahasa Malaysia. This compared to the veterans who were trained in English but taught in Bahasa Malaysia initially.
Unfortunately, most of them are retiring in a few years time. If five years were to be given to train and produce teachers to teach maths and science in English prior to the policy’s implementation, the teachers would had been able to effectively teach the subjects in English.
3. Prior to implementing this new policy, rural schools were already facing problems with teaching and resources. The hurried implementation certainly made things more difficult for them.
One may argue, ‘Look at Japan, Germany, Korea, China, Indonesia. They could teach the subjects in their national language, why can’t we?’ As pointed out by AB Sulaiman , the Malay language is insufficiently mature to handle all the technical terms used today in the scientific world.
If we were to continue our pursuit to study match and science in Bahasa Malaysia, will there be sufficient and efficient resources to translate scientific journals out there into Bahasa Malaysia so that all students can benefit from the pool of scientific knowledge to discover new things to be on par with international standards?
As Francis Collins in his book The Language of God, which embodied the wisdom of Woodrow Wilson, said, ‘I not only use all the brains that I have, but all that I can borrow.’ How can we go global\ if we are not able to translate scripts to Bahasa Malaysia?
On another note, I am currently studying at the National University of Singapore. I have met students from China, India, Germany, Japan and Indonesia. Guess what?
Most of them can articulate their points in English for both subjects and they are able to study the subjects in English, despite their solid training in their mother tongue languages.
Will we be able to produce students who are capable of this if science and maths were to be taught in Bahasa Malaysia? I hope so! Well, there are many Malaysian students abroad who are living testimony to this, but not without a cost for we had to play our part to adapt to the English language.
English is certainly the way forward. I would like to encourage both the government and the opposition (I was surprised to know some members of the opposition are for the abolishment of the policy) to remain resilient in maintaining the policy.
A batch of students trained in English for the subjects will be emerging in five years time and we’ll then see the fruits of this new policy – a tri or bi-lingual student, prepared to face an increasingly, if not globalised world, putting an end to a vicious cycle of damage to our education system.
May God give strength and wisdom to our leaders to refine this policy for the future of Malaysia in this fast-paced world.
