Dr M turns to Internet opinion on PPSMI issue
Written by Chan Kok Leong, The Edge
No stranger to controversy or resolve when his opinion is ignored, former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has now turned to his blog to reinforce his opinion.
Dr Mahathir, who opposes the government’s decision to scrap the teaching of Mathematics and Science in English policy (PPSMI), is now mobilising public opinion to back his own.
In a short entry on his blog (http://www.chedet.co.cc/) yesterday, Dr Mahathir inserted a poll to gauge visitors’ opinions on the policy reversal on Wednesday.
“I’m not surprised over the disappointment and even anger towards the government’s decision on the teaching of Maths and Science,” Dr Mahathir wrote.
“Seems to me like the government is not listening to the voice of the people. Perhaps a blog poll might enlighten the government as to the opinions of the people,” said Dr Mahathir, who turns 84 today.
An earlier poll conducted by opinion research house, Merdeka Center, showed that 58% of Malaysians wanted the policy to be kept. Of the 1,060 people polled, only 32% wanted the teaching of Mathematics and Science policy reversed while 9% were undecided.
Acknowledging the need for more emphasis be placed on English, 69% thought that the subject be made a compulsory pass in SPM. Only 26% disagreed while 5%were undecided.
According to Dr Mahathir’s blog (as at 8pm last night), 74% or 6,690 voted against the abolition of PPSMI while only 26% or 2,334 support the government’s initiatives.
Dr Mahathir, who introduced PPSMI in 2003, said earlier that his recommendations were ignored despite Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s statement that the former prime minister had agreed to abolishing PPSMI.
Dr Mahathir said he had suggested that the government keep English as the medium of instruction for secondary schools.
He pointed out that if the government was now going to train more English teachers, they could also train Science and Mathematics teachers in the same language as well.
