Fight for Science, Maths in English in Malaysian schools not over, says parent group leader
For six years now, Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim has been pushing Putrajaya to bring back Teaching and Learning of Science and Mathematics in English (PPSMI) in schools.
Although the PPSMI was replaced in 2009 by the "To Uphold Bahasa Malaysia and To Strengthen the English Language" (MBMMBI) policy, Noor Azimah insisted that her struggle is far from over.
Instead, the 53-year-old chairman of the Parent Action Group for Education (Page) said it was the right time now to re-visit PPSMI and introduce it in schools once again.
"No, I don't think our struggle is over. In fact, I think it's time we revive it. The policy was abolished and replaced with MBMMBI because the government thought it was more important to enhance English proficiency first before implementing the PPSMI," she told The Malaysian Insider.
"You have the first cohort of PPSMI students who are now in Standard 4. The MBMMBI, especially the English side, must be doing well, otherwise we would hear of poor feedback from parents and schools.
"So with that, if it is really a success, then we should look again at re-introducing PPSMI in 2017 – when these kids go into form 1.
Noor Azimah, a mother of four and a former accountant, pointed out that the first batch of PPSMI students (those who began learning Science and Maths in English from Form 1 in 2003) are coming out as teachers this year.
"This was confirmed by the ministry to me but they are keeping quiet about it at the moment. This batch of teachers believe they are an asset to the country and I think so too.
"We have to capitalise on this. Before this, they said they had no teachers to teach the subjects in English. Moving forward, I think we have to look at building teachers who are products of PPSMI," she added.
These teachers, she suggested, should be posted to schools where Science and Maths were taught in English.
"Otherwise, it is just a wasted effort."
Page was formed in 2008 out of a need to represent the parents, whose voices were not heard while the government was contemplating reverting to Bahasa Malaysia in the teaching of Science and Maths.
"It was at the second roundtable discussion (on whether to continue with PPSMI) that I realised that the parents' voices were not being heard. There were individual parents at the roundtable but there was no proper structure to represent parents," she added.
"And we felt that the National Parent-Teacher Association Collaborative Council had failed to represent us well in something that was so crucial.”
She admitted that the announcement to abolish PPSMI in 2009 was a blow to Page, which had presented findings on the advantages of continuing with PPSMI to the Education Ministry.
"We were invited by the ministry to present on why Science and Maths should be taught in English and we almost received a standing ovation," she said.
"But sadly, we are very good at coming up with policies but not in implementation. Like any policy, you have to wait at least 13 years for it to work. Six years is not enough."
Such was their disappointment when the PPSMI was abolished that Noor Azimah and half of the Page committee members pulled their children out of national schools and enrolled them in private and international schools.
She placed her son in a private school while a daughter, who is in Form 5, is still in a national school. Her two older children are in university.
Noor Azimah, who had been accused of being anti-nationalist and a traitor to the national language, warned that Malaysia was losing out to other countries in English proficiency.
"There was a rally in 2009 where they said that the sovereignty of the national language was being attacked because of PPSMI.
"But in 2010, the Kuala Lumpur High Court decided that the PPSMI did not contravene the Education Act, was not against Section 153 of the Federal Constitution or the National Language Act," she said.
"Over the years, we realised that we have lost out in English. So I think that the argument that we are relegating the national language to second place cannot be used anymore.
She admitted that the support she had received from her family, including her cardiologist husband, had driven her to champion PPSMI tirelessly.
"My husband and I were taught in English in those days. So we know how important it is and we do not want our children to lose out," she said.
Those who had objected to PPSMI believed that English proficiency could be improved through Science and Maths, Noor Azimah noted.
"Of course you cannot learn English through Science and Maths. PPSMI was implemented with the objective of acquiring knowledge in English.
"And the secondary objective was to be able to apply the language you learn in English class to Science and Maths," she said.
With the PPSMI done away with and schools given the option whether they wanted to continue teaching Science and Maths in English or not, the vocal educationist said that Malaysia had gone back to "square one".
"So now we have to pick up again which takes up a lot of time and taxpayers' money.”
However, she also noted that most parents preferred to remain silent on the issue, believing that the government knew best for their children.
"The silent majority is too silent. I think they are afraid to come out as their kids might get victimised in school or they might face action from their employers."
Page, Noor Azimah said, was more focused on government policies concerning education rather than organising public activities.
"We have been asked why we do not have activities but we don't want to get involved on that level and tire ourselves. Then we would lose focus on what we really want to do, which is to be critical of policies and ensure they are implemented properly.”
Her outspokenness has not gone unnoticed; she now receives invitations to meet with lawmakers on education issues, and to speak at education forums.
"We (Page) have come a long way since our formation in 2008," she said. “We will continue annoying the government and pressing their buttons." – July 12, 2014.
