A lobby group for the teaching of maths and science in English are calling for support through an online petition.

The Parent Action Group for Education (Page) had set up two websites to gather the signatures online, one for students and one for parents .

ppsmi online petition 181011 The group sought to have the policy, better known by its Malay acronym PPSMI, to be retained as an option.

"We want PPSMI simply because of the need to learn the subjects of Science and Mathematics in its lingua franca , that is English, for our children to be globally competitive, and for our nation to progress in the desired direction and speed," according to Page's email appeal for signatures.

In the email, the group also said that the policy would inconvenience students who would have to switch from English to Malay or their mother tongues.

"Yes we know this is crazy and unless you are 'super-adaptable', you will most likely be stressed out and confused," Page said in its message to students.

The group also stressed that they are campaigning for choice in medium of instructions and not against the use of mother tongue languages.

"We are not against the (government's new) policy nor are we against the wishes of other groups who prefer to learn science and mathematics in Bahasa Malaysia, Mandarin or Tamil."

Reversed after protest

PPSMI is set to be abolished when the new school term starts on January next year.

PPSMI was introduced by then Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad in 2003 with the intention of improving students' mastery of science and mathematics.

However, this was met with heavy resistance from nationalist, Bahasa Malaysia language activists, along with Chinese and Tamil education groups.

anti ppsmi rally 070209 rally 02 This movement culminated in a mass protest in Kuala Lumpur involving close to 10,000 people who attempted to petition the Agong to call for the repeal of the policy.

However in 2009, Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Muhiyiddin Yassin reversed the policy, citing dropping UPSR science and math scores and incompetent teachers.

Instead, science and math would be taught in Malay or mother tongues, while hours for English would be increased.

Recently, Deputy Education Minister Mohd Puah Zakarshi dismissed the a four-month study by Jaringan Melayu Malaysia that found 55 percent of parents polled favoured PPSMI.