Pro-BM group wants PPSMI scrapped immediately
By Melissa Chi, The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 6 — PPSMI (the teaching and learning of mathematics and science in English) remains abolished but a Bahasa Malaysia lobby group here is demanding Putrajaya discontinue the policy immediately instead of gradually phasing it out.
Gerakan Mansuhkan PPSMI (GMP) insisted that the government’s continuance would indicate it is “not serious” with its plan to revert to using Bahasa Malaysia as the medium of instruction for the two subjects.
Its chairman Prof Dr Shaharir Mohd Zain pointed out that under Putrajaya’s decision on Friday, PPSMI would only be completely phased out in nine years, during which time the government could still change its mind.
“The government should follow the same strategy of implementing PPSMI … otherwise it will send many wrong signals and indicate the government is not serious or fully committed.
“I think it is unfortunate that he (Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin) is doing something different from what most people expected him to do,” the senior research fellow at Universiti Malaya (UM) told The Malaysian Insider.
He said it would take too long for the teaching and learning of science and mathematics in Bahasa Malaysia to be fully implemented and urged the government to make the switch immediately.
Muhyiddin, who is also the deputy prime minister, announced on Friday that while PPSMI remains abolished, the government would allow those already studying under the programme to continue until they have completed their secondary school education.
Stressing that this does not mean the administration was backpeddling on its 2009 decision to scrap the policy, Muhyiddin had reasoned that the move would bring “relief” to many parents who have been lobbying for PPSMI.
He explained the decision meant that students between Year Three and Form Five next year would be allowed the option of learning science and mathematics in Bahasa Malaysia, English or both languages, as allowed under PPSMI, until they complete their primary and secondary education.
