Q&A with Tan Sri Muhyidin Yassin on PPSMI issues
July 9, 2009
2012 deadline on Science and Maths to cushion impact
Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin answers questions related to the reversal in the Teaching of Mathematics and Science in English (PPSMI) policy during a press conference Wednesday.
Question: You were saying that it will come into effect in 2012 and the implementation will be conducted in stages. However, you say that changes would not involve Form 6 and matriculation. Does this mean the extension of English learning hours will come into effect immediately for Form 6 and matriculation?
Muhyiddin: We want to have a soft landing. When we announced today this new decision, that soft landing only means we will only begin at 2012. At the same time it allow us to make all the necessary preparations. As I have announced just now, the number of teachers to be recruited and then the new sort of co-curriculum books we need to introduce to support. This all takes time. I do believe within the time frame we should be able to fufill the requirement. Regards to matriculation and the STPM, the ministry and of course the Cabinet endorsed that they should remain as it is. As you move that way, there is already a lot of English that has been taught at that level. At the same time, we believe that at the stage they reached Form 5, there is very basic strength in terms of command of Bahasa Malaysia. So when you reach that stage of Form 6 or matriculation, you have a strong command of both. But of course we propose to strengthen it further by adding the number of hours at the matriculation and STPM level. That means more time would be given to increase their proficiency and command of the English language.
Q: Tan Sri, with the new decision made by the Education Ministry, is this not in conflict with the aspirations of former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir (Mohamad) who introduced the PPSMI?
A: Yes, I had the opportunity to give a briefing at Tun’s residence along with the director-general and my senior officers. (We) respect that Tun is the initiator of PPSMI and we had a long briefing which stretched more than three hours. Everything was explained. My officers and I had shown what is the success or problems faced by the involved parties in making his vision a success if Science and Maths could be taught in English. So we presented everything and it was then we could inform (him) of the shortcomings our people faced that made it difficult for us to continue with the PPSMI that he proposed. And especially, we have informed (him) of the primary and secondary school standards - which had quite a huge gap and the achievement of students in national schools compared to vernacular schools ie Chinese and Tamil schools. Secondly, the capabilities of the teachers in carrying this out and as I have said earlier, we face a problem because a huge portion of our teachers are not fluent in English....if we continue with it, we are worried of the consequences towards learning. The reasoning is quite clear. It is not that good. Tun has accepted our view. In addition, Tun has also stressed why he proposed the PPSMI. Among (the reasons) is to ensure that Malaysians would really master English as one of the main languages in the world and we want all Malaysians to have the ability to master dual languages which is our national language and English. I explained to him that this is also our aspiration and this is why it is time for me to make the decision today. The Cabinet has approved - we have explained - not only why we are not continuing with PPSMI but more importantly, what are the steps taken to ensure that the status of Bahasa Malaysia is strengthened. The example that we gave Tun was that the periods for teaching English would be increased in time and we would also increase the number of experienced English teachers. Just now, I mentioned 13,000 teachers that we have to recruit. It is a Government commitment towards that. On top of that, Tun also gave his point of view on where we should apply ICT, simple interactive computers that can be used by the students to help them master English. He gave a few suggestions. Those are suggestions which we accept. As I have said earlier, one of the supports we would create is language labs and in addition, with Tun’s suggestions, we would also use technology aid during lessons. The suggestion to use computers to aid the teaching of English we would also take into consideration. And Tun has personally told us that whoever he meets (on that matter), he would bring the relevant parties to us and we are prepared to accept them. Basically, after I have informed that, as it was witnessed by my officers Tun listened and accepted reality eventhough there were a few other suggestions that he aired and that is not a problem to us. We accept. Especially on the matter of mastering English. He gave a lot of examples. So we accept. In China, nearly 200 million of its people are making the effort to learn English. They want to be experts (in English). China’s education system is still based on Mandarin. Because they want to be experts, they have added and increased the learning time for English. And this is what we want to implement in Malaysia and I have mentioned several additional initiatives that we would do such as a fixed English language day which we would have in national schools. During school holidays we could organise summer camps for mastering English... maybe for a week or so. What is important is the syllabus and time table that I have said earlier which can be said not only strengthens but increases the time to nearly 100%. It is the increase of time on top of the current time table that made him see my explanation and made Tun accept the status.
Q: Was the PPSMI a complete failure? A: Well, I wouldn’t say that it is a complete failure. It has not achieved the desired objective. The thing is that the students that got through this system acquired knowledge. It is not a total failure but it is a slow process to achieve even what this PPSMI was supposed to originally achieve. We can continue with it as an option for example but it would take you another 10 to 15 years. By that time I think many things have happened which might not help the student but as far as the education system is concerned - it is not good for us.
Q: PPSMI wasn’t given enough time to come to fruition. A: Well, there were some proposals that it (today's decision) should be made earlier. Some three years ago there was a move to remove it but I think that was a bit premature. So now we have gone through one complete cycle - one cycle. So one exercise to review is correct because we have seen and been able to evaluate the one cycle. What is the position? We have been able to find out this position. So when we saw we cannot allow it for another six more years or five more years? Yes we can but what will be the reprecussion to the students concerned? Will they improve. We are not sure because there are a lot of things we believe are not in that position. Not in the position to deal with the situation of the sort. So the option is to look at what we need. I think parents in Malaysia, I am a parent and would like to see my child or boys and girls have a strong command of English. That is the thinking of all Malaysians. If that is the case, what will be the best modus operandi, the approach we do it? Is it through learning of Maths and Science through English or strengthening the learning of English itself? So we believe this is the better way. Strengthening by way of teaching and learning in English. Getting the right staff and support system. Right technology. Good teachers. Added incentive, added hours. So as you can see from what we have announced, I would believe it put us, our children in a much better position and I did also mentioned that we need to make sure that at the early formative years from Standard One to Standard Six, the six years, the early part when they go to school we must send the best teachers especially in English. They should have within one or two years better command of English. They don’t have to wait for 15 years. If you can see how families that go to kindergarden that has English as the means of instruction, we can see how they fare better within a shorter period of time. So the time that we make this sort of decision to reinforce the learning of English I think it is an appropriate time.
Q: Does this mean that English would become a compulsory subject in SPM? A: That is something which we have to look at because I don’t think it is a right time today to say that we’re moving, enforcing. But as you know when I mooted this idea the response from Malaysians from many vested groups and NGOs, is tremendous. They want to see this implemented as soon as possible, a pass in English or something compulsory before you get a certificate but... I think it will come to a correct time when we all have to make a decision on that later on. If we believe that this system that we are putting into place beginning 2012 will put us in a better state then maybe it is also the right time to make that sort of pass in English as compulsory, that will be the next thing we have to look at. The question is a lot of people think and agree but they say I want you to make sure there are enough teachers, make sure the system is good before enforcing. So we have to look into it.
Q: Six years have gone, do you think the students involved in this circle of time have become guinea pigs because of this decision? A: They are not. They are still humans (laughter from reporters). One, my son is in school and I don’t see him change. I’m talking about improving the command of English that is basically what the reason PPSMI is all about. It’s about learning Maths and Science through English and as far as knowledge is concerned I don’t think we compromise too much. In terms of proficiency of English it hasn’t seen any marked improvement. It is very nominal in nature.
Q: Six years for the government to realise? It’s a very long time. A: Yes, yes we realised it earlier. You must understand the system. We realised it earlier. But at that stage if we start changing, it is too premature. We haven’t got a full cycle, half way through. Today we learn in English and next instant Bahasa Malaysia. If you are in that state you become confused. So the Government is reasonable. To make sure you complete the whole thing. And then we have got a much fairer picture of what decision to make. It must be a correct decision. We cannot make another decision which might lead to people saying, you review it again. I don’t think that is fair. So that’s why we need to take a bit of time. Even when I came to the ministry, people say tomorrow you have to change it. No, I said I’ll take two or three months and I am not making a decision to just stop PPSMI. I am making an option on what I call a new deal for the Malaysian education system. I’m basically reinforcing, strengthening of English and at the same time keep Bahasa Malaysia’s prestige.
Q: What about those who are involved in the creating/printing of text books, especially the English ones? A: I think that maybe a portion of it can still be used because we have the dual language state. Secondly, when we introduced this, we also need to print new books in English. For example, additional books on Bahasa Malaysia tatabahasa or grammar for English, the literature component and maybe we would need novels. We might need to print (more books) for literature to supply to the schools. Whatever it may be, whatever we need to use, we would use.
Q: Will the announcement boost (Barisan Nasional) in the Manek Urai by-election? A: This decision is not political (laughter). I must say that. I do not take this opportunity to gain political mileage. I want to say that it is not a consideration made based on Manek Urai. What is Manek Urai to the question of the people and the country’s future. (laughter from the crowd). What is important is that Barisan Nasional will win in Manek Urai, Insya-Allah. But this is about our children’s future, so our decision is made based on the objective and not political consideration. I want to explain this although the opposition will make their own judgement. The root of the issue is that this was made based on an objective consideration based on the empirical and scientific results gathered from specific studies. Based on this principle, this is what we are doing, not political consideration although people say you need political will to make a decision but that is not the main criteria, it is being view from the context of necessity.
Q: Billions of ringgit has been spent? A: Yes, if we have to continue, we will spend another billion ringgit. Correct, Whatever it is in our expenditure system, nothing is free. But in terms of expenditure, we do not want a system that is not effective to continue. It is not effective and did not give the impact. Spending is one issue, but if our goal is not achieved, this is double jeopardy. It is better we take one brave step and make the decision. What we have spent has been spent, but not all are burnt because the computers can still be used. We will modify and instal new software to further strength our support system that we used through ICT. So the question of spending, but whatever decision we make and by making the changes, we also spent money. It is not that no cost is involved in the changes.
Q: The rational in the use of vernacular languages in SJKC and SJKT over Bahasa Malaysia. Can you tell why these schools are allowed to use the vernacular languages and not BM? A: BM is for the students who understand at national schools. According to a Unesco research, children pick up knowledge easier via the mother-tougue and that is why we have the advantage although BM is our national language but we did not restrict the use of Chinese and Tamil. For these students, to use English in Maths and Science, they understand but not as well as when both the subjects are taught in their mother-tongue. A majority of the rural students are Malays and they would understand better when the two subjects are taught in Malay. That is why we made such a decision because it is proven in studies done all over the world. So I think Malaysia is not excluded from this fact.
Q: By taking the stand to teach Tamil and Chinese in the primary schools, does it help Malaysians to master English? A: This can be debated lah (laughter) but this system has been in existence. We are not discussing this matter today. Eventhough we have stated officialy that Bahasa Malaysia is our unity language, the system that we use is national schools and vernacular schools. So I do not want to turn it into a polemic matter but the root of the issue is that we have made a decision on matters of learning.
Q: Does this mean that Science and Maths in IPTA reverts to Bahasa Malaysia? A: I do not think so. They will remain. We are not talking about the higher education system.
Q: There was a change in the system following PPSMI in 2003. A: Form 6 still maintains whatever medium it uses now, which is English. And when Form 6 students enter university, they will continue to use whatever language they used in Form 6 and matriculation. So we do not need to do any changes or amendments. It means, when they reached that level, I believe the students have already possessed 11 years of Bahasa Malaysia and in addition to programmes to maintain the prestige of Bahasa Malaysia, their command of language would even be stronger. That student then has a choice to pick whichever language he wants. If he wants to use English, he would then continue using English. So when our children reach university level with basic Bahasa Malaysia, he still can use English in university.
Q: (Is it) up to the IPTA to decide? A: I think the IPTA would not make any changes in whatever policy they have. It will remain.
Q: Will you have a shortage of teachers just like in PPSMI? A: Well, for this purpose we have mentioned more than 13,000 that needs to be recruited. That’s why we need time and we have mentioned the four sources that the teachers will be recruited. They must be fully qualified. So I hope with the decision we made today, endorsed by the Cabinet, and of course whwere the Ministry of Finance is concerned, to fund the increased manpower. Then we should have the numbers we require.
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