Reactions to scrapping PPSMI: After 6 years and RM4.5bil

I am saddened because the future of our children will be affected. They will be the victims. The government’s responsibility is to train the teachers, the problems cannot be solved overnight, because this is important for our future, we have to face the challenges. – Mahathir

By Wong Choon Mei, Suara Keadilan

After six years and spending RM4.5 billion, Prime Minister Najib Razak finally drew the curtains on the controversial PPSMI, a policy introduced in 2003 whereby Mathematics and Science were taught in English instead of in mother-tongue at vernacular schools and Bahasa Malaysia at government schools.

The originator of the policy, ex-PM Mahathir Mohamad, had pushed through the PPSMI during his last months in office, ostensibly fed-up with the stream of complaints from multi-nationals investing in the country that the standard of English – the lingua franca – was deteriorating too sharply.

But non-Malay groups accused him of trying to subvert their language rights while pro-nationalist Malays smelt a betrayal of their language in their own land.

“I am not sure if the latest decision is based on political expediency or because the government has suddenly realised PPSMI is a betrayal of the fight to respect and support our national language and has hurt many students especially those from the rural areas,” said Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.

Delayed implementation or political ploy

On Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced the PPSMI would be scrapped from 2012 onwards. The delayed deadline has raised eyebrows, sparking concern that Malaysians may be in for more policy flips in the intervening two-and-a-half years.

Indeed, there is concern that the latest decision was merely to boost Najib’s popularity as he nears his first 100 days in office.

Despite high profile trips to China and South Korea, the 55-year old has little to show except a string of controversial court rulings over the Perak coup d’etat that he engineered in February and which has badly dented the integrity and image of the Malaysian judiciary.

The lifting of a 30 percent bumiputra quota on new share listings has also annoyed Malay groups and economist have said it would do little to revive growth in the short term. An RM60 billion mini budget – the largest ever – too has failed to show much impact.

“We should not keep using our children as guinea pigs. The policy of English to teach Math and Science failed miserably due to flip-flops in between. This latest decision is again not based on educational consideration but political expediency,” said PKR strategic affairs director Tian Chua.

Related Story:

Gov’t drops use of English in a bid to boost popularity »

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Suara Keadilan appends below the reactions from leaders from both sides of the political divides sourced from media:

Mahathir Mohamad, former Prime Minister
I was only briefed about it, so after the briefing I gave my suggestions. I said even if it could not be implemented at primary level, at least at secondary level it should be maintained, so it was not a consultation only briefing.

I am saddened because the future of our children will be affected. They will be the victims. The government’s responsibility is to train the teachers, the problems cannot be solved overnight, because this is important for our future, we have to face the challenges.

I am confident our teachers can learn English. If they can train English teachers, they should also be able to train science and mathematics teachers,” said Dr Mahathir.

Najib Razak, Prime Minister
Its spirit and objectives remain the same, we are just changing the approach.We can achieve the same objectives if we increase contact hours in English teaching so that students can become confident in other subjects.

Muhyiddin Yassin, Deputy Prime Minister
The government made the decision after studying closely research on PPSMI that shows that PPSMI could not be implemented as expected. This decision is not political, we made the decision not for political mileage. What is Manek Urai compared to the future of our children.

Hishammuddin Hussein
It was not an easy decision and it is impossible to satisfy everyone. I would also like to congratulate Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin who is Education Minister for putting forward a convincing argument on the matter based on facts.

Lim Guan Eng, Penang Chief Minister
If a sufficient number of parents in urban national schools want to continue in English, they should have an option of learning the two languages in English.

Lim Kit Siang, DAP MP for Ipoh Timur
It has been a costly 6 year experiment and a failure. Why wait till 2012 to scrap? Let parents have choose and decide what they want for their children and not be guinea pigs for the government.

Syed Husin Ali, PKR deputy president
We are of the view that the decision falls short of expectation and is a disappointment. It deliberately delays what ought to be implemented early.

What is disappointing is that the Cabinet decided that the termination of this unwise policy should take effect only from 2012 and not immediately next year.

Tian Chua, PKR MP for Batu
The policy of English to teach Math and Science failed miserably due to flip-flops in between. This latest decision is again not based on educational consideration but political expediency.

Yusmadi Yusoff, PKR MP for Balik Pulau
The decision to cancel PPSMI is politically motivated as no research results has been produced. As it has constitutional and financial consequences which go into the billions of ringgit, PKR calls on the education minister to prepare a white paper on the decision.

Anthony Loke, DAP MP for Rasah
It is an admission that the Barisan Nasional government has implemented the wrong policy. We call for the details of the government’s research on this issue to be made public, as it is crucial for everyone to know what had happened over the last few years when the policy was in place.

It is also regrettable that the voices of students were rarely heard in the whole PPSMI debate and that the students now did not have the final say. The government has to be reminded that it was entirely its fault for not heeding the advice of the people in the first place and making so many students its guinea pigs.

Anwar Ibrahim, Opposition Leader
Akhirnya kerajaan mengakui hakikat kepincangan dasar PPSMI dan mengambil keputusan memansuhkan sepenuhnya perlaksanaan dasar itu mulai tahun 2011. Setelah sekian lama pejuang bahasa, budayawan dan sarjana menyatakan kebimbangan dan menyuarakan bantahan terhadap PPSMI, alhamdulillah keringat dan doa mereka dimakbulkan jua.

Saya tidak pasti keputusan tersebut didasari motif politik ataupun kerana menyedari PPSMI merupakan satu pengkhianatan kepada perjuangan memartabatkan bahasa kebangsaan dan merugikan ramai pelajar terutama dari kawasan luar bandar. Pastinya kenyataan Menteri Pelajaran bahawa dasar ini dimansuhkan kerana mempunyai banyak kelemahan memperlihatkan sikap tidak bertanggungjawab kerajaan Umno-BN.

Sekonyong konyong mereka cuba menutup sebelah mata setelah RM 4.5 billion ringgit dana awam dibelanjakan demi perlaksanaan dasar tersebut walaupun mendapat bantahan segenap lapisan masyarakat. Keadilan tuntas menekankan selama ini bahawa satu kajian yang menyeluruh sewajarnya diadakan sebelum perlaksanaan PPSMI. Ternyata teguran yang diberikan masuk telingan kanan keluar telinga kiri.

Sayugia Menteri Pelajaran mestilah menyediakan jawapan yang kukuh dan bertanggungjawab untuk dibentangkan kelak. Rakyat berhak mengetahui mengapa selepas 6 tahun ianya dilaksanakan, baru kerajaan mengakui kelemahan dan kepincangan PPSMI.