Some have called it political stupidity; many others have called them idiots. In truth, many of the critics are missing the point. Does it really matter what language you teach math and science in, or for that matter, any other subject?

Education is a means to an end. Although the end is not always more important than the means, for instance, scaling Mount Everest, if the ends are failed to be achieved by the means when it comes to education, the purpose of the means is defeated.

George F Kneller in his ‘Introduction to the Philosophy of Education’ (1971) claims that education is a process by which society deliberately transmits its accumulated knowledge, values, and skills from one generation to another through institutions. In the teaching of math and science, we shall focus on the transmission of knowledge.

It has been well-known that the main means of transmission of knowledge are teachers. However, it has been confirmed by Education Minister Muhyiddin Yassin that only a minority of teachers had attained the required standard in the Proficiency Level Evaluation test last year. Hence, with inadequate proficiency in a language, it is impossible for teachers to effectively impart knowledge onto students.

When the teaching of math and science was changed to English in 2002, large amounts of expenditure were used to purchase information technology (IT) apparatus in order to facilitate the teaching of math and science in English. However, with inadequate training, many of the projectors purchased were underutilised and notebooks ended up being passed down to the children of teachers.

In addition, the proficiency of English amongst Malaysian students is already at a state of despair. The reason that student results did not fluctuate a great deal after the language switch was simply due to rote learning. In my opinion, the understanding of concepts and mechanisms in math and science did not increase or decrease from its already pathetic levels.

The important thing here is not what language it is taught in but the quality of education received. The quality of education is determined by the content of syllabus and how the knowledge is imparted. Our students are taught to remember and not to understand.

It is very well-known amongst the student community that many experiments tested in science are not being done in the labs. It is impossible for true understanding to be attained when theory is present while practice absent.

Business Week quoted Mahathir in their article ‘Mahathir’s Change of Heart?’ (2002) that the reason for the change in language was to increase the competitiveness of Malaysian students. The goal here is to increase the proficiency of English amongst Malaysian students.

However, the means should not be at the expense of the transmission of knowledge. The Education Ministry should introduce a more intensive English programme for students. It should be made as intensive as the Bahasa Malaysia subject.

In 2008, South Korean inventors received 8,731 US patents while close to 37,000 US patents went to Japanese inventors. This proves that innovation can flourish in countries that teach science and math in their native language thus proving my contention that it is not the language that you teach the subject in that matters; it is the quality of the education itself.