English for teaching Math and Science?

By Sim Kwang Yang

The Ministry of Education is supposed to be making a decision on whether English will continue to be used to teach math and Science in our schools some time in July.  But the public seems as divided as ever, if opinions expressed in the mainstream and alternative media are an indication.

After finishing my Chinese primary school, my mother decided that I would have a better future.  So she transferred me to an English school in the 1960s, when all subjects were taught in English.

Sometime in the 1970s, the federal government made a decision that all government schools should use Bahasa Malaysia as the sole language of instruction, in the hope of uniting the multiracial people of Malaysia with one tongue, and in fulfilment of the nationalist aspiration for the promotion of the national language as is narrated by UMNO.

Then, a few years ago, while Dr. M was still the prime minister, he made the decision that English should be used to teach math and science, to equip Malaysian students with this language skill for a competitive world.  He did this without much consultation with experts and the stake-holders.

So now, educators and parents are up in arms again, torn in an emotional divisive debate that seems to go nowhere.  Those who favour the use of English give the usual argument about how a handle on the English language will improve the chance of children’s survival on the job market in future. Their opponents argue on nationalist sentiments.  The twain shall never meet.

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