11pc to study Science, Maths in English
KUALA LUMPUR: One student in nine — or slightly more than 11 per cent — who begin Form One next week will be learning Science and Mathematics fully in English.
The rest will be taught the two subjects either fully in Bahasa Malaysia, or in both Bahasa Malaysia and English, in line with the soft-landing approach adopted by the EducationMinistry in doing away with the Teaching of Science and Mathematics in English Policy (PPSMI).
In all, 56,025 Form One students will study Science and 56,248 will study Mathematics in English. These students had previously been taught the subjects in English at the primary level.
“There are still groups questioning us about the switch in policy from PPSMI to MBMMBI ( Uplifting Bahasa Melayu and Strengthening English Language Policy), but the facts say otherwise,” Deputy Prime Minister and Education
Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said after a visit to SMK Taman Tun Dr Ismail here yesterday.
He said there would be 1,594 (11.18 per cent) Science classes and 1,600 (11.22 per cent) Mathematics
classes using English as the medium of instruction next year.
There will be 14,260 Science and 14,255 Mathematics classes for Form One nationwide.
Muhyiddin said, however, that efforts to strengthen English among students remained a priority.
He said one of the things his ministry would be looking into was on benchmarking the standard of the English language.
"Here, if someone is said to be good in English, what does it mean?
"Many people are divided as to whether the quality of English taught in schools is good or bad," he said.
An English language council, comprising a panel of professionals, would be set up to determine the quality and benchmark the standard of English in the country.
Muhyiddin said the council, to be formed next year, may be modelled after the Malaysian Qualifications Agency, a statutory body that accredits academic programmes provided by institutions of higher learning.
"The target is for it to be set up next year. We will still need to think of the organisation, composition, structure and the standards."
Muhyiddin said his ministry was also looking at the implementation of a virtual learning education system, practised in countries such as South Korea.
The interactive system will allow parents to access their children's school-based assessment (SBA) reports online and communicate with teachers through video conferencing.
"The government has agreed to this and we will begin its implementation when we start the SBA next year. Students will be assessed individually, so everyone has his own key performance indicators and take personal approaches towards improving himself."
Muhyiddin, who earlier spoke to parents of the new batch of Form One students at the school hall, was there to observe the school's preparations for the new school year.
