oh~shit~

i have to prepare larger school bag for my kids

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Teach all subjects in whatever language that best deliver the knowledge to the students...Never link languages with politics and everyone will be happier. It's usually the 'hidden agenda' behind any educational policies that makes everyone suspicious. Only if educational matters and policies are left to real educationists and academicians that the system will survive... If you look at educational policies through 'coloured glasses' then anger flares... Education should be coloured-blind ...Knowledge is paramount, language is just a tool of delivery...Students who learnt about 'pengalir' were asked questions on 'konduktor' and vice-versa get confused very easily...

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We have a successful model next door with a similar cultural and ethnic mix which has had excelled; it’s no losing face from learning from a successful system. Will there be a political will? That’s the main problem.

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I agree that 'Math & Science' can be taught in any language. The emphasize is more on the method rather than language. This theory does not apply for the other subjects as mentioned in nos. 2. Reading improves your language ability.
3, 4 & 6 are definitely a must, and 5 is a good idea.

I am not sure about nos. 7-9. Sounds a lot to handle on the plate, but nowadays children are so intelligent and they pick things up fast. I like the suggestion of sign language though. I guess it is still not too late for even a grandmother like me to study it.

Unfortunately, I still believe it is not the language issue here ... it is political. Mukriz, like Tun MM, knows where we have gone wrong in our education system. After trial & error in BM, they insist that 'Math & Science' should be taught in English. Now the excuse they give is to unite us all. Listen to what they said previously: ENGLISH is the progressive language for 'Math & Science'. They have HALF-adMITTED that BM IS NOT A PROGRESSIVE LANGUAGE. They would never dare say simply and honestly, ENGLISH is the language to go forward. That would be tantamount to admitting fully their mistake in having made BM the medium of instruction. UMNO's education policy has produced a complete mess in Malaysia, especially for the very people they are trying to help, and now they are trying to blame us for it. It is their fault, we were just forced to follow their policies. As someone said, 'suka suka' change, as though we are guinea-pigs!

Dr. Azly, I know you are trying to help, your suggestions are good, BUT .....

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Dear Prof Azly

Idea is good, but it all bores down to political will of UMNO.

A paradigm shift in our education system depends on the overhaul of the outdated political structure we have now in place.

As long as the race card is the calling card of politicians to win an election, everything else is irrelevant.

We may give the best ideas, we may shout from the top of the hill, we may talk our way till the cows come home or till the cows jump over the moon, the fact remains UMNO politics are the brakes to the nation's progress. Our young will suffer intellectually while the young of the rest of the world are meeting greater challenges of humankind, climate change, innovation of technology and the social sciences.

For 51 years, the key section of Malaysia's population ie the Malay community were made to be dependent on UMNO for their destiny... in the course of that 51 years, they were so badly mislead by the UMNO aristocratic dynasties of the Razaks, the Onns, and now the Badawi's and the Mahathir's. While the poor Malays are left with a sense of helplessness and the bogeyman in all these are the non Malays.

So what hope can we have with your ideas? None. The present Govt despite the message of the March 8 election is still reluctant to let free the minds of our University students to evolve in thinking citizens. The politics of fear are still being imbedded into the lecture rooms with lecturers behaving like carpetbeggars.

The only hope is the change in the political landscape.That may or may not happen. It all depends on the political will of the Malay masses in the kampungs and in the cities and whether the mindset of the Malay community will move out of the box they had been put in for the last 51 years.

Malay intellectuals are still as enemies of state by UMNO.

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Personally speaking I think #1 is taking a step (or more) backwards. We are trying to standardize and improve the command of English for the good of our future generations. Of course there will be problems such as what we see today. We won't see the benefits (of teachning Maths and Science in English) in one generation. It may take 15 years or more. Suggestion #1 is a typical reaction based on fear and reluctance to see things through.

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These are useful recommendations. But I feel that, even if implemented, these would represent cosmetic changes to the education system in malaysia. I would liken this approach to that of giving a defective car a good paint job. using the same analogy, I'd suggest coming up with recommendations to address the basic flaws of the car first, like its engine, its costs, the price of fuel (affordability), the people and companies that produce a faulty car in the first place...and perhaps the driver itself...

Translated into the education system in the malaysian context, there are some basic flaws that need to be addressed in terms of policy and policy-makers, teachers and school administrators, financing, etc. Providing affordable and quality universal education (without biases in terms of race, gender, geography, etc.); educating policy-makers and teachers as much as students...these shld come first rather than addressing the symptoms of the problem...otherwise, I`ll have to agree with lamepug..."I have to prepare larger school bag for my kids"...

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Dr Azly,it would be a great asset to our country if you are directly involve in our education system.

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Dr Azly,
My suggestion would be
1. To Teach all the subject in English medium
2. English, BM & 1 optional compulsory ( choices : Chinese,Tamil,Arabic etc..)
3. Cultural studies must be compulsory ( this text book has to be co-compiled with the participation of all the major cultures in Malaysia)
4. Religious studies as an additional option ( choices : Islam,christianity,hinduism etc..) and the tutors for these has to be organized by respective religious bodies in the country and subjected to supervision as and when required to avoid the hate preaching which defeats the purpose.

How to impliment it?
Dont change anything for the present students.Let them continue with the same system. Those kids going to start their studies from this point should be introduced to new system.

What does it mean?
It just means that we will have 2 system for some time. ie.. The existing students will study in present system and finish it off. New kids starting with education will start in new system and as the old system is finishing OFF, new system will be in place. This makes the transition smooth and new system will be in place over a period of time.

Then what happens to the languages?
Languages will still be taught in school because "one optional language is compulsory" to pass out. so there shouldn't be any need to fear about it. What happens to present vernacular schools? Nothing happens,As the school remains as it is with its existing administration. Only the syllabus is made compulsory & subjected to audit to approve the affiliation to Malaysian Education Boards approval.

How to control it?
Those schools who don't meet the requirements will not be affiliated to the Education board and hence the students of those schools will not be given preferences in government Universities.So, it becomes an indirect compulsion for these schools to comply with the new syllabus.

Examination systems has to be changed.How?
All the students should be registered with the education department and their student id is the only one which recognizes them. Answer sheets shouldn't have any info other than the student ID NO. This makes the examiners or marking department to be biased towards and particular student or community or race etc..

When all these things blend together, the whole education system in Malaysia will become more competitive and students start to compete each other as Malaysians and become more integrated with the drastic improvement in quality.

This would be my view on the subject matter..

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Have two official languages where everyone should be sufficiently proficient in and then let a thousand flower bloom. Don't restrict or prescribe - let it bloom and our educational environment would be a lot more beautiful, vibrant and alife.

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Dr Azly, what a complex proposal on language(s) of instruction to achieve national unity! This long list of languages and subjects (multiple disciplines) is far too complicated, even for the brightest students amongst us. Instead of commenting further on your proposal, here are some rambling thoughts.

Language is but a key for effective communication. Language allows people to exchange their ideas or messages, assuming they have need for communication. National unity is a lofty goal, something that national leaders everywhere strive to achieve. It involves nation building, the building of a common identity. It involves working towards political and social equality and building of trust and mutual respect among the people. Nation building is not a function of language policy decisions, but it is affected by those decisions.

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In any multiracial, multicultural and multireligious nation, the language policy is important because it sets the direction for communication and social interactions among the people (or the lack of such relationships). Perhaps we should study how language policy has contributed to nation building in other countries. Below are two articles for our further study and analysis:

Multilingualism and Nation Building: Language and Education in Eritrea
http://www.multilingual-matter...200475.pdf

Language Policy And Nation-Building In A Multi-Ethnic Society:
The Case Singapore Model, by Eddie C. Y. KUO
http://www2.kokugakuin.ac.jp/i...c/kuo.html

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///1. To teach Mathematics and Sciences in the standard Native Language of the learners;

2. To teach History, Social Science, Islamic Studies, and Moral Education in English///

That is more sensible, if English has to be introduced in primary school because whatever said by that mammak had to be followed. But all subjects in primary school should still be taught in the Native language of the learners, to provide sufficient grounding; that is the only time where the native language is actually being taught intensively. The standard of English could be easily picked up in Secondary schools. I think the teaching of English in China and Japan should tell us that we need not rush into teaching English so intensively so early because we have English speaking environment in the country.

The issue is just political. TDM supports his son in saying that the system of education in the country now is not conducive to national unity. He is in total denial. People do not have to be in the same school to be united, if they share the common destiny. They cannot share common destiny because TDM insists that they have first to forget their roots like he did, and be Malay to end discrimination. Assuming all Chinese become Muslim, they would still be known as Chinese, and discrimination against them would not end. With discrimination, there cannot be unity. Closing Chinese schools just prove to Malay racists that they can bully Chinese. That would be political capital for the son to be made UNO youth chief. Greed knows no bound. It carries on from generation to generation, destroying it bit by bit, leaving some for his grandchildren.

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"1. To teach Mathematics and Sciences in the standard Native Language of the learners;
2. To teach History, Social Science, Islamic Studies, and Moral Education in English;"

Dr. Azly, 'knowledge' can be acquired more efficiently using one native language. 'Language' is a tool to acquire such knowledge no matter what the 'knowledge' is (Sciences/Maths or History/Social Sciences).

'Moral Education' is Moral Education no matter what language it is taught - will a person be more moral educated when he learned it using English? Let language back to what it is create - which is to communicate - and a tool to acquire knowledge (Except for English, Malay or other languages major, where the language itself is the subject matter).

One need to use the tool he/she is more comfortable to do something well. To acquire knowledge, one hence need to use the language he/she is more comfortable with. So he/she can focus on the 'knowledge' of the subject matter instead of struggling with the 'tool' - the 'language'.

Please, do not mix 'Language' with 'Knowledge'. 'Knowledge' is 'Knowledge' no matter what language it is explained in.

The problem with Malaysia education is they simply cannot distinguish 'language' and 'knowledge', they are arguing which 'tool' our kids should use to acquire knowledge, instead of focusing what kind of 'knowledge' our kids is receiving.

If 'Knowledge' is the treasure buried underneath, 'language' is the tool to dig it out, the fastest way for one to dig out that treasure is to use the tool (English/Chinese/Malay/etc) he/she is most comfortable with!

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I have colleagues who are more comfortable conversing & discussing in Mandarin. I think our southern neighbour's method of teaching the 3 main languages BM, Mandarin & Tamil in school is a good idea. Imagine you can converse with the grandparents/grand-whathaveyou of your friends in their language! Especially if they are 1st or 2nd generation citizens. Imagine how happy they'd feel.

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Dr.Azly
Why Tamil language was not mentioned at all?

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Strange that no one bother to ask those who had the bestof both worlds, namely those born in 1960 to about 1963 who did Science, Maths, accountancy in English and History and Geography in Malay.

We ende up with a balanced view, fully conversant in both languages and then go on and develop it further as we pursue our careers. We had no problems holding our court in Malaysia, with Chinese, with Malays or with Westerners.

That is a successful model and what we are doing now is great.Just leave it, the problem actually lies with the teachers. we had great teachers and they speak impeccable English and the cared.

Improve the teaching profession and leave the language issue alone.
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5. To offer World Languages as electives; emphasizing Mandarin and Arabic as the next major world languages
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Dr Azly, shame on you. how could you not mention emphasis on learning Hindustani to our Malay brothers and sisters who avidly support the Indian Film Industry? Tut Tut

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cheers doc

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Go to the kampongs and ye hall see that the English Language teachers are all desperately in need of learning the language themselves.

I have seen the 'correction' done by these teachers and it is sad. They are not qualified to teach English language. A Science grad teaches English and Math. This is not confined to the kampongs alone. Small towns too are in dire straits ... they need qualified English Language teachers.

Those qualified interested? Bear in mind that there is nothing else to do in these places but to look at Malay girls who are btw very friendly but watch out as the society is looking at you while you are looking at them.

All these and more in my next article. Read all about it. What I write is always based on facts.

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Btw, the only qualified English teacher is one teacher who has a diploma after her Formn 5. I saw her corrections. I don't think I have to go into details.

This is an open letter to BN.

Get moving - the unsuspecting students are learning a contorted version of English language. These teachers actually believe that they are fluent in the language. Then they spew what they have been taught in Universities and make the task of the English language teacher at the Univ an arduous one - not that all English Language teachers are fluent in the UNiv - some are products of these kinds of schools too.

It's the Malays who are affected so if you are a Malay Muslim or a Chinese or Indian Hindu, Christian or Buddhist - if you pray and practise the positive teachings then do something about it.

These are the neglected Malays who actually think that the BN is helping them.

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kavidibaku, Dr.Azly
Why Tamil language was not mentioned at all?

In the article, Native language encompasses Tamil language.

I observed within my family and extended family, children can handle multiple spoken language (at least 2) easily when they are young. A child has a tremendous capacity to learn from its immediate environment. They are also very adapt at non verbal cues.

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