Math and Science in English...why it is not working

Ever read The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling? In it there are stories about Mowgli, a character who has extraordinary skills in hunting and tracking. As one reads on, it is discovered his exceptional talents are because the young man had been brought up and taught by a pack of wolves. There's another one which I enjoy listening and reading with Little Rainbow. It's a story from this website called BookPALS Storyline Online called Guji Guji. The storyline goes like this...a crocodile egg goes rolling into a duck's nest. The egg hatched and the baby croc grew up behaving like a duck. Go click on it...nice to listen cos the readers are all pro actors and actresses...

Back to my topic of Math and Science in English...why it is not working. The MOE has this year decided to add new elements into the PTP (Penilaian Tahap Profisiensi) for teachers of Math and Science. So, these teachers have to sit for an English Paper with Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking components.

The exam is rather rigorous because each component is tested separately. For example in the speaking component there are 5 bands for the speaking components...starting with

1. Band 1 - Very weak user
2. Band 2 - Limited user
3. Band 3 - Modest user
4. Band 4 - Competent user
5. Band 5 - Excellent user

Well, I think if we are to look at the teachers' command of English, we'd find that quite a big group of them fall into the Band 1 and Band 2 groups. This is most probably very true for most of the states in Malaysia. If our young are taught by teachers who themselves are very weak or limited users of the language, how can they have a good command of the language?

If Mowgli has the abilities of the wolves because he is taught by them and Guji Guji behaves like the ducks even though he is actually a crocodile just because he grows up with the ducks (he became a crocoduck, LOL), then our children who are taught by teachers who are incompetent in the language of instruction will be at best, very weak and limited users themselves, after their teachers.

In our fear of that our national language will lose its importance and significance, we allowed our myopic views to destroy what could have been one of our greatest assets...a population who are competent users of the English Language. Cos this will surely help our society become more knowledgeable and open. We have missed a lot of opportunities because of that!

Balasubramaniam...the man of the hour

At a time when Malaysia is grappling with the possibility of inflation and all the other problems associated with the oil price increase (going to hit $145 per barrel), our political arena has been overly active with the kind of stories that I'd imagine found only in tabloids a couple of years ago!

Statutory declarations! That's what hogging all the media, it has overtaken the Anwar sodomy allegations. Even that Saiful whatzisname, has been relegated to the back room.. Of course, the mainstream media, as usual gives you the stripped down or 'juiced up' versions, depending on the issue. But these days, you only have to go online to find out more! So, if the gahmen thinks that it can stop the details from getting to your regular pakcik and makcik on the street, they are really mistaken!

The who's who!
This is the guy who made the statutory declarations (SD) which shocked the nation! At the first SD, he was cheery. At the second one, he looked really disturbed! But then again, if you were to look at the content of his first SD, actually there is nothing that shocking. Just that it has come out from the closets of many people's minds into printed words.
But to actually read what he had to say! I'd say that would be unheard of before the advent of the internet. Less than 24 hours later, he retracted those parts which had to do with our DPM. Now what's playing in most people's minds would be, why on earth did he do that for? Of course everyone knows the answer....Malaysians are actually a clever lot. Only our politicians underestimate that ability.

The next is the guy who stands to lose most...our DPM cos the declarations made by the above is so damning... I guess when the news hit the stands (or the internet), it must have made him squirm in his seat. And this is a poll I picked from this site. So, think again if you think Malaysians aren't clever. Of course, one can always argue that people who are more internet savvy tend to be more bias towards the Opposition but even if that is true, the 12th GE indicates that this group is rather big.
And then again, there are all these other damning articles, one of them here....unless the DPM is able to clear all these allegations, it may spell the end of his political career???

I wish our political leaders would just lead a straight life...run the country as it should be..so that us ordinary folks don't have to pay so much for everything now. Cos, at his moment, I feel as though I am living in soap opera land. And everyday, the twists and turns get even juicier! It's almost scary cos the implications are terribly hard to imagine! And the scariest of all, it seems like the rule of law is not really working these days!

He-Woman, She-Man...

The following are headlines from BBC:
Man claims he is 'pregnant' on 27th March
Pregnant US man hails 'miracle' on 4th April
US 'pregnant' man has baby girl on 3rd July

The man was actually a woman who has undergone a sex realignment ops. Didn't know that they call it like that now. Always thought that it was called sex change ops. Anyway, wonder how 'his' little girl will think cos for most of her friends, their mothers would have given birth to them. I mean..how does it sound? "Hey! You know my dad carried me for 9 months in his womb." Or "My dad has ovaries!" Maybe instead of calling him(her) daddy...a more correct term would be da-mmy! LOL!

The order of nature is seriously skewed here. And he even made it to Oprah! Now he says his little girl will be daddy's little princess. Maybe someday this little princess will turn into a prince since in her world...guy-gal, gal-guy...they are all interchangeable.

Catching fish in the 'longkau'... again!

This was Tuesday evening's activity. I cycled past this place a couple of days ago and saw this 'drying up' drain with fish inside. Thought we'd try to catch some to replenish the fish which have been dying like flies.

Well, one of the first things the girls did was to test their lompat jauh (long jump) skills...over the drain. Ling took a fall... 8) Nothing like visiting the good ole teenage years again...agility and all that.This is how they stirred up the fish...trying to chase the fish into one end...
When that didn't work, they tried to build their own dam. Managed to catch some big fish. Even succeeded in chasing one big one into the net.
Can you guess what this is?
It's a dragonfly!

This is lil rainbow, pedalling as fast as her little legs could to go home. She is still using her training wheels. Have to make her go without them soon cos they are way too noisy right now....you hear her from a distance.
On the way home, some really serious cyclists passed us...
Left the bro and sis behind...
Twas an interesting longkau fishing trip.... 8)

Bugs that eat waste and excrete petrol

How about that? Bet this would bring the prices of petrol down to really sane levels if it hits off! Non pathogenic strains of E coli are genetically modified to eat waste and literally produce oil. This is what you get when you have a bunch of Silicon Valley people putting their ingenuity and minds into combating the steep price increase.

Expected to be around $50 per barrel, this definitely is way more acceptable than the $140 that we're seeing now. And it's carbon-negative!

No interest-free period for those who don't settle credit card debts

This was from The Star. I think it's long overdue...no interest free if you don't settle in full. The same report stated that about 50% of credit card holder pay at least the minimum amount. Only 1/3 settle all their outstanding amount. So why don't people settle all?

1. They spend more than they can afford... means they live a life of 'hutang'. Plastic money...easy come.
2. Ignorance...a few years ago, I had a conversation with a friend on credit card. His reason for not settling....the credit card company card says pay minimum only-mah! Like that very good! It was only after I calculated the amount of interest that he was paying as his balance got bigger that he was being sucked dry dawned upon him. I think he settles his balance in full now.
3. The lure of good life....after all, you can just wave your credit card and you can have what you want. Most of us are driven by such desires. Good life can be rather expensive if it's the worldly things we seek after. 8( Cannot afford it actually but made affordable by this plastic money. So, how to settle all?
   

As for me, I settle in full every month. Anyway, I think if we use the credit card wisely, we can benefit from it...apart from the 20 days interest free plus point there are other benefits, petrol rebates for example.

Principals...are they relevant to our schools?

In our Malaysian schools, the primary school head is known as the Guru Besar or Headmaster. In the secondary school he's known as the Pengetua or the Principal. When I was schooling, we used to look up to our Headmaster and Principals with awe and fear. There was this Principal who struck fear in the students but under his watch, my alma mater went on to become one of the top schools in the state and country. Effective heads are important. They are the captains of the ship and an incompetent captain will run his ship aground.

So, what with our schools now? Are our heads still relevant? I have been in the teaching service for more than 15 years. In that time, I've served under numerous heads...9 to be exact. My first boss was competent enough but I was a rookie....I transferred out into a school which gave me the opportunity to explore myself. My boss then was a visionary. At a time when technology was in its nascent state, he dared venture into the unknown. I enjoyed working under him and he gave us lots of opportunities to advance ourselves. But more importantly, he was a fair head. Race was not an issue with him. As long as you are competent, that was fine with him. That was more than 10 years ago. It's hard to find a boss like that now.

After him, came one who was competent enough but he was more of an administrator rather than an educator. His meetings were really long....one that stood out was a marathon meeting which lasted till almost 7 p.m. One of my colleagues' wife actually called to look for her husband. It started at around 12 noon. Until today I still cannot understand the need for such long meetings.

The next boss was, well...forgettable. Her head was in the clouds most of the time. She ranted and raved quite a lot. But the more scary thing about her was she was vindictive. That is one boss I'd rather forget for I went through an experience of a lifetime. But that is another story for another day.

This was followed by another lady boss whom I have great respect. She was a professional in every sense of the word. Under her watch, the school that I was in improved in every aspect. She seemed aloof but underneath that tough exterior, she is one boss whom I think of really well because she walked her talk and led by example. She taught real subjects too ...she was the first HM I know who actually took an exam subject and really taught, as in go into her classes. Many HMs teach on paper but in reality, those are phantom periods. She knew who the problem students were. I have utmost respect for her. If all schools have heads like her, I think our institutions would be world class.

After her came 'forgettables'. One was constantly in the canteen. Another one was just too 'nice' to be a Principal. Another one seemed to have the heart in the right place but she just couldn't gel everything together. However, under her watch, the school saw some improvements. Shows that her desire to see the school move forward made a difference. But she allowed her emotions to get the better if her most of the time. Then there's this one who seems not to be around most of the time... busy with out-of-school duties.

So, do Heads make a difference? I think they do. I think school heads should stay put more in school. No point having a head if they are not there to see to the day to day matters. You cannot run a school effectively 'remote control' style. They should be educators at heart, not just administrators. The state of a school is highly dependent on the head. So, if we consider our schools today as not up to standard, then part of the problem lies with the kind of people heading it.