Chua: Let teaching of Maths and Science in English continue

KUALA LUMPUR: The teaching of Mathematics and Science in English (better known as PPSMI) should be allowed to continue especially in selected urban schools, said MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek.

“Parents should be given a choice to select the language for these subjects in schools where adequate qualified teachers are available.

“The teaching of the two subjects in English is a must if we are moving towards a developed nation status and want to compete on the global front,” he said yesterday.

It was reported in July last year that the Cabinet decided the medium of instruction for Mathematics and Science will revert to Bahasa Malaysia in national schools and mother-tongue languages in national-type schools from 2012 onwards.

On Saturday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, during a meeting with his Facebook friends in Penang, was asked to consider bringing back the PPSMI policy.

Najib had said that the Goverment would study the possibility of using two mediums of instructions in the teaching of Science and Mathematics in schools.

Separately in Petaling Jaya, Tan Ee Loo reported that the Parent Action Group for Education (PAGE) said the benefits of the PPSMI policy were evident in the statistics of the 2010 Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia results as they were the best in four years.

The improvement in English might have been the residual effect of the PPSMI policy as it had provided the context in which students were compelled to use the language, said its chairman Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim said.

Noor Azimah was commenting on a statement by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin on Monday that the Education Ministry would study the possibility of using two mediums of instruction in the teaching of Science and Mathematics in schools.

He said this in response to Najib's Saturday statement.

National Tamil School Headmasters Council president P. Doraisamy said there should also be some level of flexibility in a policy.

“If a child cannot understand a term in English, the teacher should be allowed to explain it in Tamil. Prior to this, during the PPSMI policy, teachers were only allowed to teach the subjects entirely in English,” he said.