I write this letter in response to Masali's Sains, Matematik, bahasa Inggeris: Anak murid 'terkorban' . Whilst I understand the concerns that Masali has about the government's decision to implement the teaching of Science and Maths in English, I think that this is a necessary move for reasons outlined below:

A change from one language to another is always going to be difficult. Even fluently bilingual people have difficulties with language switching at times. The fact that young kids have - and will continue to have - difficulty with language changes due to the recent implementation of the teaching of Science and Maths in English is hardly surprising. This is expected.

The fact that there is a difference between urban and rural kids also comes as no surprise. These children differ in that they have been exposed to different levels of English use. This is an undeniable fact.

But consider this. For years and years, urban Chinese and Indian kids have managed with a language that was as alien to them as English must seem to some young rural children. They managed, as did children from areas where Malay is the predominantly spoken language.

The reason? Because kids are resilient. And because language learning is far easier when acquired at a younger age than when older. The move to teach the two subjects in English actually prepares our kids to be competitive in the world arena in a manner that is far kinder than expecting them to manage at university level without previous grounding.

More important, scientific articles and research are being produced in English these days. Even articles not originally written in English are translated for the purpose of ensuring a wider readership. The move from Malay to English should therefore not be seen as a slight or disrespect to our great national language, which many of us think of fondly as our own language.

Rather, it is a necessary move to ensure that our children have wider horizons than we did. Surely a child from a rural area deserves this as much as any child from an urban one.

The fact that parents in some areas find it difficult to help their children due to language limitations is a temporary situation. These children, older siblings of other children to come, will soon be able to extend help to their younger brothers and sisters.

In a decade or two, these individuals will be parents and be able to coach their offspring. In that same decade or two, these same children who had difficulties with the shift from Malay to English will have more doors opened to them from an international perspective given their language competence.

Malaysia has a lot to offer. But in order to communicate this, we need to speak the same language as the wider global community. That language seems to be English.

I do see Masali's point about the comparatively limited facilities for supporting this language shift in rural schools. And I sympathise. In an ideal situation, the school should be able to provide adequate support, assistance and extra help for students facing difficulties with the language change.

If the facilities in the rural areas for learning English are poor making it is hard for rural kids to cope with the language demands, then the government should be pushed to provide greater training and even greater incentives for qualified teachers to serve in these areas.

Changing the policy back to the way it was will only handicap rural kids further in the bigger scheme of things. And that will be the true 'korban'.