I refer to the article dated 24th April 2011, Sunday entitled "The need for PPSMI... " Many of us have misunderstood the difference between PPSMI and English!! I am not saying that PPSMI should be scrapped off forever. What has eluded all of us is that reintroducing PPSMI will not solve the problem of poor verbal and written communication skills among our graduates... If we want to increase our proficiency in English we should start from the language itself.. The Ministry of Education should consider introducing more English lessons.. Currently there are 7 lessons of English a week in the primary school timetable. Why not increase it to 8 or 9 lessons. And bring in more professional and qualified English teachers.. I laughed out loud when my sister told me that her English teacher pronounced the word "Remainder" as "reminder". This clearly proves that the standard of English Teachers nowadays is down the drains. In fact a survey conducted by thestar online poll shows that 59% of respondents feel that Science and Maths should be taught in BM.. Even my mother studied science and maths in BM but she still speaks and writes English well and is a English teacher. The government should not succumb to the pressure of several quarters to reintroduce PPSMI. Major education policies like this one should be studied and surveyed carefully before reimplementation.. Right Now all directions are pointing that PPSMI should not be reintroduced.. IF PPSMI is reintrodueced let us all look at the repercussions and consequences .
1. Rural students may not be able to cope with Science and Maths lessons.
2. There will be a huge social gap between the academic achievements of urban, semi-rural and rural students.
3. Rural students may face difficulties in getting jobs as they have not mastered Maths and Science.
4. the target of 60% Science stream and 40% Arts stream cannot be reached....
so what we should focus on really right now is not PPSMI. We should focus on improving standard of English in rural and semi-rural schools. This should be implemented under the NKRA of Improving education. Experienced and dedicated teachers should be sent to rural schools to serve. These teachers should be given incentives such as extra allowances and others as a motivation for them to serve better.. Come on Urban counterparts. Lets no be selfish and only think of what u want and need.. Try putting yourself in rural student's shoes.. Then you will get a clear picture of what I am talking about The main thing about 1 Malaysia is social justice
and acceptance. Wouldn't it be injustice to rural students if PPSMI is reintroduced. It will be impossible to achieve a high income nation status if the rural students are neglected. My final stand is that PPSMI be put on a hold for 5-10 years. The government should work towards improving standard of English first especially in rural and semi-rural schools. When rural and semi-rural schools become more competent and proficient in English then by all means we can welcome PPSMI with open arms. Anybody agree with my stand?? I am sure a lot of urban parents would disapprove but again at this current time frame this seems to be the most correct and sensible solution.. However i would encourage bilingual teaching of science and Maths.
