Kit Siang: Malaysia has the craziest education system in the world

ARCHIVES 2009

By admin-s On Jul 14, 2009

(The Malaysian Insider) PETALING JAYA, July 14 — Lim Kit Siang slammed the Cabinet over the decision last week to scrap the use of English to teach mathematics and science starting from 2012. He said students caught by the transition while in Form 4 in 2012 have to flip to Malay for mathematics and science before flopping back to English for the next five or six years of tertiary education.

“I stand by my strong criticism of the Cabinet decision particularly for secondary schools from 2012, when I said that Malaysia will have the world’s most crazy educational system,” said Lim in a statement to the media. “Those who want to impose such an educational system must have their heads examined as to whether they are fit to be in the Cabinet in the first place!”

MCA and Gerakan presidents Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat and Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon were singled out by Lim for their comments in the Chinese media.

“It is no use that Ong and even Koh claim that English should continue to be used as a medium of instruction for maths and science in Forms 4 and 5 from 2012, when they were full parties to the Cabinet decision last Wednesday to turn the Malaysian education system into a crazy 9-2-5/6 system, with students going through nine years of the two subjects taught in English, two years in Bahasa Malaysia in Forms 4 and 5 and then reverting to English for five or six years of pre-university and tertiary education in maths and science,” said Lim.

The decision to scrap the use of English in teaching mathematics and science has been met with bouquets and brickbats — the former from Malay and Chinese language champions and the latter from many parents across all ethnic groups who see a strong command of English as essential in today’s world.

It also drew mixed responses from within both the Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat. Some have hailed the decision while other have called for the policy to be retained at either the secondary school level or that parents be given the choice of selecting either Malay, English or mother toungue languages for the teaching of science and mathematics.