I feel compelled to say something in the interest of students who are currently in Form 1 and who will enter Form 4 in 2012. If they are forced to switch from three years of coaching in English for maths and science in lower secondary, and then switch to two years of coaching in BM in upper secondary, it will be very disruptive.

When they reach pre-university, university or college level, they will have learn maths and science in English once again. Why should this pioneer batch of students who began learning the two subjects in English in 2003 be made to suffer?

It would be better to implement the policy after they had finished their secondary education.

We do not object to the government’s decision to teach maths and science in Bahasa Malaysia and the mother-tongues, but we strongly advocate English be taught at secondary schools.

Do we need to make a rash decision based on the premise that rural students find it hard to cope with the teaching of maths and science in English?

I’m sure with the right education environment, well-qualified teachers and good English laboratory facilities, these students shall be able to master the language.

If we were to teach these two subjects in Bahasa Malaysia, then do we have adequate resources to translate all the reference textbooks and materials from English to Bahasa Malaysia?

It would be better to train our English teachers. Send them overseas if need be. Let’s improve our kids’ English by helping out with their grammar and sentence construction. Increase the teachers’ pay so that they find it attractive to be in the profession.

Bilingualism will be advantageous to us, as our children learn additional languages to become globally competitive. Learning an additional language will not make us lose our national identity, less patriotic or less nationalistic. On the contrary, it will open doors of opportunity and lead to racial unity.

Decisions should not be politically motivated but based on sound judgment in the best interest of our kids. We need to take in views expressed by education stakeholders, e.g. parents, teachers, educationists.

If not, we run the risk of losing intellectuals to neighbouring and other technologically developed nations. Even China, Hong Kong and Japan who at one stage were inward looking in their choice of language, are now encouraging their citizens to be proficient in English.

International schools and our southern neighbour Singapore will be swamped with students who will be trying to get the best of an English styled education. How many of us can afford that luxury?

The implementation of the English use in maths and science was carried out for only six years since 2003. Imagine the millions of ringgit that was spent on English teachers’ allowances. Is it fair and logical to revert to something without giving the current system a chance to succeed?

Let’s finish off a task that has been started!