From English to Bahasa Malaysia, then back to English and again to Bahasa Malaysia.We should not be playing kick-ball with the lives of young students who are subjected to enormous stress by such policy changes called by special interest groups.Parents too are subjected to horrendous pressure as policy shifts come and go at the drop of a coin.Parents want the best for their children; they want a good, simple and advancing education that arms the children with knowledge to compete in the world and succeed.They want their children to be on par with other societies, like in Singapore or Hong Kong, which had inherited a colonial education system but decided to build on it, rather than pull it down.
Malaysians from Johor travel by bus in the early hours of the day to study in Singapore, while their parents take courses to keep up, communicate with and help in their children’s studies.The world has become that competitive.There was a referendum in Hong Kong after the former British colony was handed back to Chinese sovereignty in July 1997, whether to continue in English or switch to Mandarin.Parents wanted to maintain English overwhelmingly.In Hong Kong today, there is a system of dual languages, where Mandarin is taught along with English, attracting an international student clientele to Hong Kong.
Parents are important stakeholders in the field of education and know better what their children should get by way of a modern education.Democracy offers alternatives and choices. You do not shut the door on any stakeholder.The Parent Action Group for Education, which is fighting to retain the learning of Science and Mathematics in English policy, is spot on in pursuing its goal.While the group is strongly supported by the MCA, MIC and Gerakan all component parties of the Barisan Nasional many in Umno also see the promise that an education in English holds for the children.PAGE has submitted another memorandum to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, asking for special schools to teach the subjects in English. Najib will have to decide on the request because it is becoming a political hot potato.
Najib had said the era of “the Government knows best had been long over. He has emphasised this several times to indicate that policymakers have to listen to all stakeholders and not go on a tangent of their own.But his deputy Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who is also Education Minister, has said the situation would be chaotic if the ministry were to provide facilities for the teaching of Science and Mathematics in both Bahasa Malaysia and English.But there are practical solutions, such as hiring Indian teachers from overseas. They have a good proficiency in English and can teach well.Our education system is heavily politicised and needs to be de-politicised to offer a good and simple education for all citizens one they can be proud of.Given the chance to decide, even parents in rural areas would vote for PPSMI as it gives their children a leg up in today’s competitive world.Our society has developed many alternatives to the Bahasa Malaysia-only policy private education, home schooling and international schools which the Government throws open to all.These centres of excellence in education come at a price. They are expensive and the poor cannot afford it.So, the rich of all races escape our Bahasa Malaysia-only policy, study in alternative schools and eventually move overseas to continue their education and then stay back to work and live there.
There are, ironically, Africans, South Americans and other Asians enjoying a multi-cultural education in English in Malaysia.If we insist on teaching only in Bahasa Malaysia, we will eventually have just Bahasa Malaysia-speaking students in a society that privately offers English-language education for anyone who wants it.An estimated one million Malaysians have left for greener pastures abroad and we are now wooing them back through Talent Corp and also offering incentives to bring them back.Never mind if things are initially chaotic it is the Government’s responsibility to provide for all its citizens.Eventually, we should aim to democratise the cluttered and over-burdened education system that is pulling various ethnic groups asunder. We need to provide choices for all rich and poor.
