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Lawyer: Against the law to teach in English

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By : Joseph Sipalan

KUALA LUMPUR: The teaching of Mathematics and Science in English is illegal, a senior lawyer claimed today.
Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman said the controversial system, implemented in 2003, was in direct violation of provisions under the Education Act 1996 which stated that Bahasa Malaysia must be the medium of instruction for core subjects.

Under section 17(1) of the Education Act 1996, it is specified that Bahasa Malaysia will be the main medium of instruction in all educational institutions in the National Education System except national-type schools or any other institution exempted by the education minister.

Aziz pointed out that section 18 of the act made it compulsory for core subjects to be taught in Bahasa Malaysia.

Read more >>> http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Thursday/Frontpage/2430986/Article/index_html

NKKhoo says:

It’s right time to bring MOE to court. Karpal Singh flashs out of my mind, who else if not Karpal Singh is the one to sue BN government. :-)

Category: Education | Tags: , | 18/12/2008
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Get your statistics correct before you throw your weight on English

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Let’s examine the popularity of various languages in the world,

Mandarin is used by 1.3-1.4 billion people; Japanese language is used by 150 million people.; Russian language is used by 230 million people; German language is used by 60 million people and Malay language is used by 250 million people.

English language (from wiki) is used as first language: 309–400 million; Second language: 199–1,400 million; Overall: 1.8 billion

By comparing first language usage, Chinese language is the most widely used language in the world.

I have learned many production technologies from the Japanese publications (via Chinese books translated by Taiwanese) and certain advanced statistical techniques developed by the Chinese statisticians. These technical materials are not available in English world because of one way translation fallacy.

Those people assume English is the mother of technical and engineering knowledge is reflecting their shallow-brained worldview and totally overlook the vast knowledge stored in Chinese, Japanese, German and Russian languages.

Who is leading nation in precision engineering? The answer is not America, it’s Germany.

Who is leading nation in robotics engineering? The answer is not America, it’s Japan.

Who is leading nation in outer space engineering? The answer is not America, it’s Russia.

Who is leading nation in encryption technology? The answer is not America, it’s China.

Have you search the internet in Chinese, Japanese, etc. languages? The fact is internet is not dominated by English, where Chinese netizens already surpassed American netizens in number.

Category: Education | 17/12/2008
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What IF someone says Chinese school students are poor in BM, let using BM to teach them maths and science subjects?

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Those parents who support the usage of English for Maths and Science, are you accept this logic?

Besides, I have not seen any hard data or evidence to prove that English can help to boost up a country to tech superpower status.

Since Malaysia is an Asian country, I pick countries with English as the teaching medium like India, Singapore and Philippine to compare with countries using native language like Japan, Korea, Taiwan and China in the techological development and achievement. Obviously, in overall these non-Englsih speaking countries are excelled in the technological fields.

Why India already using English in their schools for past 70 years after the independence is still not a tech superpower like Japan or Korea? The answer is teaching maths and science in English is still not a proven way for a nation to excel in the technological fields.

Our neighbor in the south may be in the right track for choosing English as the language of international commercial, but there is still no strong correlation between English and advancement of technology and science in Asia context.

Let’s talk with fact, I’m willing to listen another side of the story.

Category: Education | Tags: | 17/12/2008
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Parents’ group: A voice for rural parents as well

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By : NOOR AZIMAH ABDUL RAHIM, Chair, Parent Action Group for Education Kuala Lumpur

WITH reference to the letter from Balan Kumar on the teaching of Science and Maths in English (“Let’s all vote on the use of English” — NST, Dec 12), the Parent Action Group for Education (Page) wishes to clarify that we do not just represent parents who have children in urban schools but also parents and teachers from all states (including rural areas) who are in favour of the current policy.

Read more >>> http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Tuesday/Letters/2428532/Article/index_html

How many members in PAGE?  100 or 10 million members?  A few parents called up PAGE is considered a reliable sample from a popluation of several million parents in the rural or urban?

MCA with a million members still cannot claim that they are representating the whole Malaysian Chinese poplulation.

This is how some Bolehland intellectuals make themselves a laughing stock without the backing  of statistics.

Category: Education | 16/12/2008
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Consensus on language debate unlikely

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By : Koh Lay Chin and David Yeow

KUALA LUMPUR: The final roundtable on the teaching of Science and Mathematics in English will be held today but it is unlikely that common ground will be found, according to sources involved in the discussions.
The battle lines have been drawn and have remained fixed. There are those for the continuation of the six-year policy, and those against.

There are those who seek a compromise, such as teaching in English for only upper primary pupils. There are those who advocate a “to each his own” approach, where schools are allowed to teach the two subjects in whatever language the parent-teacher association agrees with.

Sources familiar with the discussions say one thing is certain — there is no unanimity, either in Malay and Chinese groups or among teachers and parents. Even within organisations and political parties there are differences.

Read more >>> http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Tuesday/National/2429197/Article/index_html

Admin says:  Let conduct a nationwide referendum to decide its outcome.

I bet 60-70% Malaysians are against teaching maths and science in English at the primary school. While >80% will support teaching maths and science in English at the secondary school.

Or Pak Lah and Najib can wait for future PR government to decide for BN government.

Category: Education | Tags: , | 16/12/2008
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