A parents’ group has called for core subjects to be taught in English as children in Malaysia continue learning online this year.
Parent Action Group for Education (PAGE) president Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim also called for the Education Ministry to ensure its syllabus mirrors international-based assessments.
Teachers have been teaching online since the Movement Control Order started last year. There was a brief moment where schools were re-opened but were once again closed due to the rise in Covid-19 cases in the country.
“We should consider in the near future to re-align our syllabus to more international-based assessments like the IGCSE and A-Level because the medium of instruction is in English,” said Noor Azimah.
“As education is like a big ship, it will take a huge political will to change its course. At best, with parents and students under pressure due to the pandemic, it may incentivise the powers-that-be to integrate more dual-language programme (DLP) schools at a faster pace.”
She added teaching core subjects in English will help open up learning channels for Malaysian children.
“The main objective is to get the Education Ministry’s buy-in to move all the core subjects to English and to take advantage of existing online content. Let’s not reinvent the wheel.
“It (teaching core subjects in English) will open up the learning channels for our children to the whole world at their own pace and time without any hindrance due to poor teaching quality.”
She said the move will also push teachers to upskill by learning from the vast online content.
The teaching of Mathematics and Science in English (PPSMI) was introduced in 2003. PPSMI was fully implemented for all secondary school students in 2007 and primary school students in 2008 but was abolished in 2013 and replaced by the DLP.
PPSMI was abolished over concerns that teachers and students were struggling in learning, communicating and expressing themselves in English.
This was also documented in a 2009 paper ‘Teaching of Mathematics and Science in English: The Teachers’ Voices‘ by several academicians from local universities.
The paper revealed 80.8 per cent of the 26 teachers interviewed felt that they had problems in adjusting with the number of new English words to be learnt as a result of the change in policy while 92.3 per cent of them had problems using new terms or words correctly
The feedback obtained from the respondents included:
- “Despite several years of teaching in English, I still need help with my English. I’m afraid of not using correct grammar when I teach. There were times when I felt really ashamed as my students corrected my sentences”.
- “My students cannot understand me when I explain concepts. I need to use Bahasa Melayu. They understand simple instructions in English but it is difficult to make them understand science concepts in English”
Efforts to digitalise schools in Malaysia started in 2004 through the implementation of SchoolNet. In fact, maximising the use of ICT for distance and self-paced learning is part of the Malaysia Education Blueprint (2013-2025).
Yet, the country continues to struggle in delivering lessons online. This is accompanied by other issues, including the lack of gadgets and poor Internet connectivity, especially in rural areas.
