PETALING JAYA, Oct 8 — A favourable outcome in an online survey by the Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) could lead to English being used for core subjects starting from the next school term, said a member of the agency.
Parents Action Group for Education (PAGE) chairman Datin Noor Azimah Rahim said they were looking at teaching Mathematics, Science and ICT in English soon.
Teaching certain subjects in English has long been a hot button issue. In 2003, the government introduced the PPSMI where Science and Mathematics were taught in English, but it was abolished in 2009.
Noor Azimah said teachers should have no excuse if the PPSMI was revived since they had been trained for it when it was implemented.
“They have experience in teaching in English, so they should not say they cannot do it. Many students will benefit from this,” she said.
Research indicated 15 to 20 per cent of English hours in class were inadequate for effective English proficiency.
Noor Azimah said one of the aims of the survey was to consider more subjects taught in English but realistically, two or three subjects were enough for now.
“We have to be realistic ... not all teachers are bilingual. We just do what we can,” she said.
Noor Azimah said Mathematics, Science and ICT should be taught in English, in line with the government’s goal of making science and technology the nation’s engine for growth.
National Union of the Teaching Profession president Hashim Adnan, however, was not supportive of bringing back English as the medium for the core subjects.
He suggested non-examination subjects such as arts, music and physical education to be taught in English.
“PPSMI was a failure, why are we repeating this?” he said, adding that he was not optimistic it would go through.
