Necessity is the mother of invention in students' willingness to master English.

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's exercise in having Science and Maths taught in English in non-exam classes is a start. I think Maths was chosen because it entails the least disruption though, as critics say, its contribution to mastering English is minimal.

It is a numerate subject so it doesn't require many words or proficiency in grammar. The choice of Science at this introductory stage is debatable as it is already difficult enough to master and the additional burden posed by the requirement of a new language can be daunting to rural pupils. But nevertheless, it will eventually be an ideal choice because our only access to cutting edge science and technology is through the English medium.

Half-measures will not do. No amount of gimmickry can sustain the student's interest in improving his command of English. Upgrading the skills of the English Language and English Literature teachers is not enough.

In my schooldays when English was the medium, I used to get F's for Malay. I was not a dunce and my results in my other subjects showed I was not. My school could have provided the best Malay teacher in the world for me and I think my results would have been the same.

Necessity is the mother of invention, which is the reason why I didn't progress in Malay. At that time it was not compulsory and I didn't need it to perform in my other subjects. The same thing is happening with English now.

The students themselves don't see it as a necessity though educationists may talk about its economic necessity in a globalised world, blah, blah, blah (all of which is true).

Ultimately the solution is likely to be the conduct of half the subjects in Malay and half in English. Then students will realise that they must master English to do well in their exams. This will make them truly bilingual.