The Teaching of Maths and Science in English

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Dr M slams Education Blueprint for ignoring him on the teaching of Maths and Science

Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today reiterated his earlier stand that schools must teach Science and Mathematics in English.

He was commenting on the National Education Blueprint 2013-2025, which was unveiled last month by Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

Dr Mahathir went on the offensive today, claiming that he had given a lot of input for the blueprint and yet, very little of what he said was used by the Government.

"The Government is focusing too much on Bahasa Malaysia. The Malays, however, are not experts in science and technology. This kind of knowledge comes from the West and the information is mostly in English," he added.

Noting that the Government had instead followed the advice of National Laureate Datuk A. Samad Said by reverting to teaching both subjects in the national language, Dr Mahathir said this would only hamper the country's development.

"He (Samad) only knows about Bahasa Malaysia. He is not a Science man. I am a Science man and I can still speak in Malay," he pointed out, adding, "This is why I keep talking about it."

Meanwhile, Dr Mahathir joked that he would like to be the prime minister again, after being told that he was recently voted the most popular Umno leader.

Malaysia's prime minister of 22 years scored 79% satisfaction level among 600 Umno supporters in a survey which was conducted last month by the Merdeka Centre.

"I financed them," he quipped at a press conference today, causing the room to erupt in laughter.

Even though he resigned as prime minister 10 years ago this month, Dr Mahathir fared better than Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak who scored 69%, Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (58%) and Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin (54%). - October 1, 2013. - Source

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I agree with teaching Maths & Science subjects in English. It is the correct thing to do. Unfortunately, it faced a lot of objections from various quarters including teachers. I noticed that parents, in general, are quite supportive of it, in urban areas anyway. Not too sure about the rural folks. But the most vocal group are the educator themselves.

I suspect it is due to the language barrier, or rather the lack of English language proficiency of the people in the ministry & schools. Teachers in national & vernacular schools struggled with this policy. The question is, when the government decided to abolish it, was it done in the interest of the students or the adults.

Why does the government like to do things on an ad-hoc basis? It's always firefighting. Everytime a policy is changed, it involves not just huge amounts of funds, it also affects the students, parents & country. It proves that the Ministry of Education & Education Department is inefficient.

Obviously, the teachers of these 2 subjects must possess a certain level of English proficiency. Those who are lacking in this department should be retrained. Else, find a suitable candidates.

The overall standard of English must be raised. It has a direct bearing on the country's competitiveness and human capital.

I wish, for once, they would stop political meddling in education.

I'll end this post with a piece of good news regarding education.

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Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan arrive in Kuala Lumpur, capital of Malaysia, on Thursday. Photo: Xinhua

RM100mil boon for Xiamen University Malaysia campus 

KUALA LUMPUR: Xiamen University – China’s first university to be set up outside that country – received a boon with a RM100mil donation by local tycoon Tan Sri Robert Kuok for its campus in Malaysia.

Kuok, based in Hong Kong, gave the money to build a university library, which will be part of the main building.

This was announced by Tan Sri Ong Ka Ting, the Prime Minister’s special envoy to China, during a luncheon attended by President Xi Jinping here yesterday.

Tan Sri Robert Kuok

Present were Kuok, businessmen and representatives from non-governmental organisations.

The Malaysian campus of the Chinese university will be built in Salak Tinggi, about 16km from the KL International Airport in Sepang.

It is expected to be operational in September 2015.

“While Chinese education is well protected here in Malaysia, the Chinese community here mingle with other races and live in harmony,” said Ong.

Xi, in his speech, said the Chinese diaspora in most countries were successful.

He joked that some China nationals thought that Malaysian singer Fish Leong was from China.

“We have 40 years in strong diplomatic ties with Malaysia and I hope this will last,” he said.

Speaking to reporters later, Ong said Xi told him that he and his wife Peng Liyuan tried durians on Thursday night and enjoyed it.

Ong said this was Xi’s second visit to Malaysia after visiting Sibu, Sarawak, 20 years ago. - source