THE debate on whether the teaching of Science and Mathematics will be in English or remain in Malay continues unabated. There are supporters for both, each with compelling arguments.
This debate will go on despite Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad saying that the decision on this matter will be made only next year. The acting education minister said a full and comprehensive paper on this will be submitted to the cabinet for consideration and a decision.
It looks like the matter won’t be decided during Dr Mahathir’s tenure as prime minister since he had said he would retire after the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit, which will be held later this year.
Should this happen, the matter would then fall on the shoulders of the new prime minister, which could be Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who himself was education minister before. Interesting, right?
Perhaps Dr Mahathir dropped the bombshell because he wanted everyone to discuss this important matter and see the merits of his proposal. The proposal is not new, since Science and Mathematics have been taught in English before.
If we take a deep look into this, one glaring fact is apparent — there just aren’t enough teachers who can teach good English in national schools. And good English teachers hold the key in any attempt to teach Science and Mathematics in that language.
Come to think of it, it is not just about Science and Mathematics — it’s about mastering the English language itself! That is a massive challenge already.
To many people, this hurdle must be crossed first before going into Science and Mathematics.
In the 60s, the government did an experiment where pupils from Malay schools could opt out to study in an English school. Thus we saw pupils like Roslan, Yahya, Mazlan, Johan, Ayub and 40 others making the switch.
This switch was then known as the Special Malay Class. These pupils were either in Standard Three or Four in their Malay school. Upon switching, they were all put into one class for three years beginning with Standard Four.
This means that for three years, these boys were classmates. They were separated from children from the other classes because they had a different mission — to have their academic makeover from Malay to English.
They were not put in normal classes with children from the other communities. Perhaps it was partly to help them gain confidence in the English language, and not be bullied by schoolmates who had a three-year head start.
The parents of these boys made the decision to switch from their Malay school to an English school for one main reason — they wanted these boys to learn English. Their parents were salaried workers, including labourers, teachers, technicians, policemen and civil servants.
These pupils did very well after switching to an English school. It was a mission school too, mind you! Roslan became an engineer after graduating from an American university, Ayub joined a bank and did very well, Yahya joined the civil service, Johan studied shipbuilding in Germany, Mazlan went into oil and gas while many others became successful entrepreneurs.
But over and above the English vs Malay dilemma, another challenge has emerged. Many parents are sending their children to “home schools”. This is another version of international schools but located in shoplots, bungalows or shopping complexes.
It costs money to send children to such schools. They follow a foreign syllabus, meaning they take foreign exams with a view of getting into foreign universities. These parents are planning their children’s career and they are looking at the global marketplace.
So while the arguments whether our children and grandchildren should learn Science and Maths in English continue, other parents steer clear of this debate and focus on sending their children to world universities and then earn good money and experience abroad.
What then is the answer to this, you may ask. We must democratise education for those interested. That’s a different story soon.
Twitter: @aatpahitmanis
The writer is a former NST group editor. His first column appeared on Aug 27, 1995, as ‘Kurang Manis’
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times