SEREMBAN: The Malaysian Muslim Teachers Association (iGuru) has expressed worry over the government’s plan to reintroduce the teaching of Science and Mathematics in English (PPSMI).
Its president Mohd Azizee Hasan said iGuru opined that the re-introduction of PPSMI would only caused students from the rural areas to lose interest in both the subjects of Science and Mathematics.
He said the association believed it was more effective to teach both subjects in the mother tongues of the students.
“We (iGuru) support the efforts taken to strengthen the command of the English language as preparation for the job market but do not believe that unemployment was due to the inability of mastering English.
“The Science and Mathematics subjects had been taught in Bahasa Melayu since the 70s without any problem.
“As such, we were shocked and disappointed that PPSMI will be implemented again,” he said in a statement today.
On Friday, Prime Minister and acting Education Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad announced that Science and Mathematics will once again be taught in English. He said the move would allow for a better mastery of the language.
PPSMI was introduced during the 2003 school session to all students of Year One in primary schools and Form One of the secondary level.
It was fully implemented to all secondary school students in 2007 and primary school students in 2008 before it was abolished in 2013.
Azizee said: “The failure of PPSMI was proven at international trials where the performance of Malaysian students in TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) had dropped nearly 100 points below the World average in 2007, 2011 and 2015.
"The performance in 2015 improved slightly after PPSMI was abolished in 2012," he said.
Azizee said PISA's (Programme for International Student Assessment) performance in 2009, 2012, 2015 and 2018 too recorded below the World average despite Malaysia choosing English Dual-Language programme students to sit for the test.
"Therefore, iGuru hopes that the decision (to re-implement PPSMI) will not be done in a hurry and that the relevant party will take into account aspects of our children's future." he said.