PPSMI: Don't give up just because it's difficult
YOURSAY 'I suggest that all ministers' children should not be allowed to study in international schools or study overseas at primary and secondary levels.'
Schools not allowed to opt for Maths, Science in English
FairMind: That's the stupidest thing that I have ever heard. DPM Muhyiddin Yassin is putting the cart before the horse.
When the whole country's education system and the future of millions of children are at stake, you just need to plan, period, no matter what.
Just because of the inconveniences to a few government servants, Muhyiddin is going to risk the country's reputation and competitiveness?
Malaysia has the highest proportion of civil servants in the world and yet they have no time to plan?
Jeremy Ng : It is true that allowing schools to opt for teaching Maths and Science in English will it difficult for the Education Ministry to plan.
However, it should not be a problem if effort is put into it. By the DPM's admission, the elites will continue to be the group that will master English. And why should this be so? And why are they mastering English?
Why are the majority, especially the Malays, continued to be weak in English?
We are assuming that this group can never be good in English. And obviously so with the way Umno played its narrow politics to obstruct Malays' exposure in the name of Malay supremacy.
For real progress, supremacy means nothing if they have limited competencies.
Onyourtoes: It is difficult to plan? Isn't that you are supposed to do? So you think it is easy to be the minister for education?
Then you said there are teachers who are not so good at teaching in English. I see, if you keep paying teachers higher salary why is it that they are not good. If they are not good, you kick their butts and you get new ones. I am sure there are many good ones who are willing to teach even with present salary.
Alright, if you think English only benefit the elites, I suggest that all ministers' children should not be allowed to study in international schools or study overseas at primary and secondary levels.
Muhyiddin, do you know why a lot of parents are already sending their children to private schools?
Dingy: After their big loss in GE12 in 2008, the BN government has been looking for ways to regain the people's vote. One of these was the decision to abolish PPSMI (Teaching of Mathematics and Science in English) to secure support from the rural Malays.
The excuses given don't hold water. The government has totally ignored the demand of urban parents. Apparently the only way to reverse this government decision on PPSMI is to vote it out of power.
The opposition should capitalise on the PPSMI issue to win more support from people who want PPSMI to be retained in selected schools.
The fact is after Muhyiddin announced the abolishment of PPSMI, 20 new private schools appeared in the Klang Valley offering English as medium of instruction using International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) syllabuses.
However, not many from the middle and working classes can afford the high school fees.
People should ask why Mara is not following the national education policy. Mara plans to convert, in stages, its junior science colleges (MRSM) to English-medium schools.
HermanCain: DPM, the other day I listened to your speech saying that the 20 plus years of teaching all subjects in Malay (pre-PPSMI) produced brilliant students and Malaysia was tops in producing world-class graduates.
Sir, I and a lot of people disagree. We have at least two or three generations of Malaysians damaged by the system. Just look at our graduates from the local universities over the last 20 years or so. They cannot speak proper English, they lack confidence and they are of very poor quality in terms of acquiring knowledge.
To add to that, the quality of our education has been so badly compromised over the years just to accommodate the weak students who happen to be mainly Malays. I hear from many teachers that the students, including those from rural schools, are doing much better under PPSMI.
Besides pandering to your Malay base, I do not know who you are listening to and why you want to do further damage the future generations of Malaysians.
Nik V: For many years, after observing Umno's BN over time, it seems their intention is to keep the rural rakyat behind and in their control and reliant on them.
The principle of ‘Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and he'll never go hungry' is not a principle Umno adheres to except for their own children.
Instead of helping the rural areas meet new standards, Muhyiddin and his cohorts want the standards to be lowered.
That way the rural rakyat will learn but barely enough to improve their lot in life. What a cruel bunch of ill-intentioned politicians we have in Umno-BN who will do whatever to suppress their own in order to ensure their vote bank will always be there.
But their diabolical plans will soon be overcome by the rise of new Malaysians. This fight is not about Maths and Science, but the bigger battle for a better Malaysia so that everyone will be given the chance at being the best.
Not Convinced: Didn't someone said a long time ago: "We choose to go to the moon and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard."
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