Amid DLP poser, Page calls for decentralisation of schools

With Putrajaya seemingly at odds with some parents’ aspirations in the Dual Language Programme (DLP) issue, the Parent Action Group for Education Malaysia (Page) said it was time to decentralise the administration of schools.

“The World Bank had recommended decentralisation a decade ago, which we failed to do.

“Our Education Ministry itself had said ‘one size does not fit all’ but it remains to be seen. DLP is a fine opportunity to decentralise.

“Unfortunately, the education minister has impeded progress by dictating a mandatory non-DLP class in her so-called new and improved guidelines, stifling students and their parents,” Page chairperson Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim told Malaysiakini.

The DLP programme was mooted in 2016 after the government abolished the Teaching of Mathematics and Science in English (PPSMI) policy, which was introduced at the tail-end of the first premiership of Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Back then, DLP guidelines for implementation were that schools were equipped with sufficient teaching resources, preparation was made by the principal and teachers, parental consent was obtained and the school’s performance in the Malay language met the national average standard.

READ MORE: Your KiniGuide to the school Dual Language Programme

However, issues arose after Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek introduced a new rule which requires schools that implement DLP to provide at least one non-DLP class for students who want to study science and mathematics in Malay or their mother tongues.

The minister defended the decision amid backlash, where on Dec 21, 2023, she said the new rule was imposed after her ministry found that some students in schools that implement DLP are not mastering basic Malay or their mother tongues.

However, new issues arose on June 6 after representatives of 11 Chinese secondary schools in Penang opposed the new directive.

The group said they objected to it as there were no takers for the minimum one non-DLP class.

Elaborating on her views, Azimah said each state in Malaysia is peculiar, having different types of workforce demand.

“Kuala Lumpur prides itself as a financial centre with Bursa Malaysia strategically placed. The Academy of Sciences Malaysia is in KL too.

“Penang is at the heart of the global semiconductor industry with spillovers into Kulim, Kedah and Perak too. Johor is an international education hub while Selangor is a business powerhouse. Sarawak is on its own trajectory with exclusive rights to full DLP schools.

“As such, directors of state education departments should be more dynamic and insist on managing decentralisation rather than finding fault with parents who are only exercising their rights and making principals scapegoats for it,” she said.

Who is blocking DLP’s success?

On why there is much opposition to DLP, Azimah said it was evident that present leaders at the Education Ministry and teachers’ associations do not see the programme as a need for the future.

“There is no push nor desire to make this a success because it is from the past administration. Teachers are not trained or motivated to make this a success as there is no push from the top.

“The motivation rather is to reduce the importance of DLP regardless of the promise made in 2015.

“Leaders come and go and want to leave their own legacy and that seems to be the constant,” she lamented.

READ MORE: MP SPEAKS | DLP guidelines: A step in the right direction

Politics in education

Asked why the ultra-nationalists are opposed to DLP, Azimah said it was not necessarily them alone but also those from the “Green Wave” and some teachers, which involves yielding to a segment of voters.

“It is more likely a calculated risk of pandering to the majority of Malays,” she said.

On that note, Azimah said politics in education will always be an obstacle to progress but stressed that DLP was never intended to be exclusive but open to every student.

“The target was to open 5,000 DLP schools by 2023 and like the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025, we are far from the target.”

Adverse impact of language change

A January 2021 World Bank report titled “The Impact of Language of Instruction in Schools on Student Achievement: Evidence from Malaysia Using the Synthetic Control Method” stated that the change in the language of instruction from a native language to a non-native language in the middle of a student’s schooling negatively affected their learning.

“Using a non-native language as the language of instruction throughout a student’s schooling is more detrimental to a student’s learning than switching the language of instruction from a native language to a non-native language in the middle of the student’s schooling.

“The negative effect of using a non-native language on a student’s ability to learn plays an important role in explaining the adverse impact of the language policy change.”

The report, however, acknowledged that its team were not able to quantify the extent to which changing the language of instruction negatively affected a teacher’s ability to teach.

“But findings from other studies indicate that the adverse effect of changing the language of instruction on a teacher’s ability to teach is likely not negligible,” the report noted.

The report also indicated that if a country is considering changing the language of instruction in schools from a non-native language to a native language, it must anticipate its potential adverse impact on the quality of teachers.

“(This includes) the adjustment cost on existing teachers who have been accustomed to teaching in a non-native language and the negative effect of using new teachers who have received training in the native language may outweigh the benefit for students to learn in their native language.”

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