PPSMI does not benefit our students..

This I got from Bernama,

"The outcome of a study conducted by a group of 50 lecturers from seven universities at 70 secondary schools and 90 primary schools nationwide found that the policy has failed to give any benefit to students," its chairman Datuk Dr Hassan Ahmad told a press conference at the Parliament lobby here.

7th year.... finally, my F1 kids are showing some promise. It's not much but there is some. Better comprehension of what they listen to is one; probably due to a more extensive vocabulary from the constant use and exposure since I think this is the first batch who was supposed to be using English only (but they they did a turnabout and allowed question papers to still be bilingual) So probably the teachers in primary did use more English in anticipation of that. But the students still cannot hold a conversation in English. That is still a long way off.

I know of a Malay boy in F2 who attended Chinese vernacular school in his primary days. His English is not that great but he thinks he prefers them taught in English than BM. Says it's easier to understand. His Malay friends who attended national schools prefer the use of BM.. Hmmm...

Then there is the question of teacher ability. A couple of days ago, Dr Khalil Idham Lim Abdullah (Titi Serong) implied that some Malay teachers were going mad teaching Maths and Science in English.... how not to go mad if you have to grapple with the language of instruction. I think for many such teachers, this is probably one of the rare times in their lives that they actually had to struggle to learn something... so, if one is not used to pressures and struggles, then maybe one is more likely to cave in mentally????

Then Malaysian Translators Association president Associate Prof Abdullah Hassan, said that teaching Maths and Science in English does not really bring any benefit to the people.... this coming from the Prez of the Translators Association... if the people are good in English, more than half the translators will be out of job....vested interest here.

One must remember that one of the things that is required by this 'soon-to-be-our-future' is communication skills. Most of the facts they learn in Math and Science do not help them much actually... but the process of learning them does, as also the skills picked up. And language is one such skill picked up.

For those in the bottom group, I feel it does not really matter what the language of instruction is. These are the ones who should be attending skills training but unfortunately, our system does not really cater to that. Some smart Minister of Edu saw to that! Our vocational schools gone down the drain liao! So, they continue to languish. They are not going to be acing their exams any time sooner. If Datuk Dr Hassan is referring to this group then he is right.

Many middle-class families are for the policy... they believe their kids benefit from it. But the Chinese and Malay language chauvinists are against it. Strange that the Indians don't have much to say. I guess they realize that Tamil schools aren't bringing much progress to their children. You don't see many middle class Indians sending their children to Tamil schools.

Having Science and Math taught in English does not jeopardize the position of the national language. Nor does it make our kids less Malaysian. If anything, it will probably make our people more ready for the world, contrary to what the Prez guy from Malaysian Translator Association said. But the policy could do with some fine tuning.