Tamil primary schools in Sungai Siput, Perak MIC president S Samy Vellu's homebase are opposing the government's proposal to teach Mathematics and Science in English, according to a Parents and Teachers Association (PTA) chairperson today.

Their stand remains unchanged despite a warning by the MIC president two days ago that a rejection of the proposal by the Indian Malaysian community may lead to the demise of Tamil schools when parents opt for national schools that accepted the language switch.

However, PTA chairperson of SJK(T) Mahatma Ghandi Kala Salai S Thiagarajan stressed the teaching staff and parents of the six schools were not against the government's plan to improve English proficiency among students.

"We just feel that there are better alternatives to achieve the purpose without making any changes to the teaching of Science and Mathematics," he said when contacted.

One of their suggestions was to introduce English at Standard One and Two as currently the language is only taught from Standard Three onwards in Tamil schools.

"Some of the parents suggested the teaching hours for Tamil in Standard One and Two can be cut down just to accommodate with the introduction of a new language subject. This shows that they are aware of the importance of English," he said.

Apart from SJK(T) Mahatma Gandhi Kala Salai, the other five schools located in Sungai Siput of which the parliamentary seat is held by Samy are SJK(T) Ladang Dovenby, SJK(T) Ladang Elphil, SJK(T) Sungai Reyla, SJK(T) Tun Sambanthan, and SJK(T) Chanka.

Since announcing the language switch last month, the government has been criticised by various social and education groups across all three major ethnic groups for the hasty implementation without due studies.

Resolve weaknesses first

Thiagarajan pointed out statistics revealed that students in Tamil schools are not performing well in Bahasa Melayu and English with an average pass rate of below 45 percent in 2000.

"If the students are asked to switch to English to study Mathematics and Science, it is almost certain that their performance in these two subjects will drop as well," he said.

In last year's Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) a compulsory government examination for primary six students the pass rate for Science and Mathematics among Tamil school children was 82.6 percent and 74.4 percent respectively.

Thiagarajan added the weaknesses in the teaching of Bahasa Melayu and English for Tamil schools would have to be resolved first before a more ambitious plan such as the language switch is implemented.

"The posting of fully trained teachers for Bahasa and English is often delayed, and there is 'staff-pinching' where the good teachers will be transferred to national schools," he said.

"The basic facilities such as tables, chairs, and educational materials are either difficult to obtain or are not adequately provided for," he added.

Johor Tamil schools oppose switch

Meanwhile, the PTAs of 16 Tamil primary schools in Johor also opposed the language switch and have drafted a letter stating their unanimous stand on the issue after a meeting last week.

The one-page letter, dated Aug 9 and signed by SJK(T) Masai PTA chairperson P Maniam, was sent to Yayasan Strategik Sosial an MIC-run body which focuses on social reformation programmes among the Indian Malaysians.

In the letter, Maniam said all the schools involved felt the language switch was not the best way to improve English among students and may cause more problems to Tamil schools.

Instead, he urged the government to consider increasing the hours of instruction for English.

The 16 schools were: SJK(T)s Jalan Yahya Awal, Tun Aminah, Permas Jaya, Ladang Tebrau, Kulai Besar, Sungai Pelantong, Jmount Austin, Ladang Hock Lam, Ladang Tong Hing, Ladang Rini, Pontian, Desa Cemerlang, Ladang Tanah Merah, Jalan Sleayang, Masai, and Ulu Tiram.