Gerakan's resolve to reject the use of English to teach Science and Mathematics in all schools beginning next year did not come as a surprise to many. Even when the proposal was mooted months ago, the party expressed reservations. It then undertook a study on the impact of such a change to the education system.

Though the party was merely expected to make a decision on how the new system would affect Chinese schools, the party leaders obviously had a larger interest in mind as they also came up with proposals, announced on Saturday, which looked valid and workable.

The party suggested that Science and Maths continue to be taught in the existing medium of instruction while English terminology be introduced in textbooks of both the subjects from Year Four. In addition, bilingual text could be used in Year Six. The party also gave a time frame of slightly more than a year for preparatory work before implementation in all schools from 2004.

As for English itself, the subject should be taught from Year One in vernacular schools, and not Year Three as is the present case.

The stand by Gerakan, a main component party in the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, will be seen as a major blow to the government which wants to start implementing the teaching of Science and Maths in English for Year One, Form One and Lower Six in upper secondary from next year, less than five months away.

No agreement

The system will only be implemented in vernacular schools upon obtaining feedback from Chinese- and Indian-based BN parties. According to the Education Ministry, this was due to the political nature of the proposed changes. While MIC has agreed for such a move to take effect in Tamil schools, the Chinese-based parties have failed to reach any consensus on this matter despite meeting three times.

The ministry has said that it was ready to put the new system in place, which was introduced largely to arrest the continuing decline of the English language among Malaysians.

The government's statements of confidence aside, questions still arise on how truly ready we are for this policy shift. Will it be implemented in vernacular schools next year? Is the government even ready to implement it in national schools?

Education Minister Musa Mohamed on Wednesday said that the government would implement the system in all schools next year even if BN component parties representing the Chinese community have not submitted their views.

The Chinese-based parties have been continually meeting the last was on Friday without being able to reach any final decision. The parties are facing tremendous pressure from various Chinese groups who are against the proposal.

In essence, the main objection is that these two subjects will be better taught in mother tongue and that to improve English, what's needed is an increase in the teaching hours. The other concern is that the role of mother tongues will be eroded in the new system.

Stealing a march

Faced with these dilemmas, the Chinese-based BN parties have been trying to find a win-win solution so that the political futures of these party leaders as well as their duties to the community will stay intact.

However Gerakan has managed to steal a march on the others with its own proposals. The party says it will impress upon the other Chinese-based parties as well as the government on these new proposals.

What Gerakan needs right now is the support from the biggest Chinese-based party in the ruling coalition namely, MCA. If MCA throws its weight behind Gerakan, maybe with its own set of proposals, the government will have to reconsider its decision.

MCA's procrastination on making a stand may be an indication that there is some hope of forthcoming support for Gerakan.

This, coupled with new revelations that teachers are still not fully trained to teach Science and Maths in English and that the Education Ministry will have to deploy volunteers, mostly school leavers from England, to teach (though these people will only be here for a short term), only goes to show that this new system is being implemented in haste, without any serious thinking given to it.

Also on Saturday, Dewan Bahasa and Pustaka management board chairperson Abdul Rahim Abu Bakar admitted that there might be a delay in the publication of Science and Maths books in English for next year as translation work had just begun. He assured that DBP would try to get the books ready in time.

However, this itself is going to create a new problem a rushed job will bring with it mistakes that should not be there.

(This was also a concern raised by Gerakan, which said that the government must consider other important aspects such as shortage of textbooks, computer-aided programmes and trained teachers before implementing the new system.)

Scare tactics

Abdul Rahim also questioned the rationale of using English to teach Science and Maths and requested the government to conduct an in-depth study on ways to improve the teaching of English.

Apart from Gerakan and DBP, other groups representing the Malay, Indian and Chinese Malaysians also object to the new system; Chinese education group Dong Jiao Zong and the opposition front, Barisan Alternatif, are already planning to go to the grassroots to explain their objections and the government should keep its ears to the ground before it considers pushing on with its plan.

The government should not see this as a slap in its face and should not resort to using scare tactics such as the threat of the Internal Security Act. Nor should it brand people opposing the move as "extremists".

However a statement by deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Sunday that he was confident Mahathir will find a solution to this situation will definitely make many uncomfortable. Abdullah said that the Chinese-based parties will meet Mahathir soon and that the premier will help them reach a consensus.

If it comes to that, one cannot put it past the premier to cajole, hector and pull up every available trick to ensure he gets the support of these parties to implement this new system.

If that happens, then all is lost and the ones that stand to lose the most are the younger generation who have been made sacrificial lambs to an untested policy change. The real impact of this will only be known years down the road.

The underlying message is this if so many people are complaining and opposing, there must be some merit to their stand. No one is against any changes for the better and our education system is indeed in need of a major overhaul. The government must be magnanimous over the concerns shown and implement a truly working system, not one that needs to be revamped 10 years to come.

K KABILAN is a news editor with malaysiakini .