This is an unedited statement from Mod Azmi Abdul Hamid, President of Teras
Teras rejects the call for the reinstatement of teaching of Mathematics and Science in English policy as iterated by the Jaringan Melayu Malaysia President Azwanddin Hamzah.
His statement based on the study JMM conducted on 33 schools with 15,000 respondents cannot be a basis for the government to heed the call.
The alleged study claiming more than 50% supported the policy was not backed by arguments from the experts of the BM language and on why the proficiency of English amongst students are low and thereby leading to the introduction
on PPSMI.
The study has only depicted an empirical data to rely on its call and not a thorough analysis on the teaching of the language itself.
His pointing of certain quarters politicising the issue into a polemic and stirred emotions for personal and political gains is unwarranted .
Does he not know that the number of intellectuals and academicians who supported the movement to abolish the PPSMI policy are individuals with high credibility and academic credentials amongst the members of the bahasa group of experts.
On what basis has he to downplay the arguments pointed by them on their rejection of the policy through their in depth analysis on the effects PPSMI on the development of Bahasa as a medium of knowledge advancement.
JMM’s accusation smacks of an ignorance , arrogance and disrespect towards people who are experts in the field of language teaching. A raw data and a simplistic conclusion that PPSMI should be continued is not an approach for
any policy change.
Unless JMM is full hardy to embrace whatever is English and therefore perceived as globally competitive is the only answer for nation building , Teras call on the JMM to state its stand clearly. JMM cannot screen itself by portraying to be objective on this issue but in actual fact having a mind set with an underlying notion of the superiority of English over Bahasa.
The main issue that comes to the fore is not about elevating the nation’s human capital and to allow the people to compete in the age of globalisation with a command of English but rather why is JMM being so timid of admitting that Bahasa is equally if not more superior than English in moulding our nation building agenda.
Why is competition and obsession that we should be at par with the developed countries be the driving motivation for nation building. On whose yardstick are we measuring our success or otherwise?
The president of JMM stated that the parties involved in rejecting PPSMI as being hypocritical and not thinking of the best future for their children and he believes in the superiority of English in securing jobs for the future . Who is he to prove that such is the case.
The basic issue is about the pedagogical weakness in the present way of teaching English and not of the teaching Mathematics and Science in English.
The ignorance of JMM in treating this issue is regretful. We propose that JMM meet the language experts rather being simplistic about the acceptance or rejection of PPSMI.
We call on the government not to revert back its decision to abolish PPSMI as of 2012 . The unprecedented mass rally that proceeded in protesting PPSMI on July 7th 2009 is a good enough measure of sentiment that majority of the people in the country rejects PPSMI.
If the government reverts its decision , then the education policy which is vital in building this nation base on its own mould is just another rhetoric and people will make their objection visible again.
TERAS rejects the call for the reinstatement of teaching of Mathematics and
Science in English policy as iterated by the Jaringan Melayu Malaysia
President Azwanddin Hamzah
His statement based on the study JMM conducted on 33 schools with 15,000
respondents cannot be a basis for the government to heed the call.
The alleged study claiming more than 50% supported the policy was not backed
by arguments from the experts of the BM language and on why the proficiency
of English amongst students are low and thereby leading to the introduction
on PPSMI.
The study has only depicted an empirical data to rely on its call and not a
thorough analysis on the teaching of the language itself.
His pointing of certain quarters politicising the issue into a polemic and
stirred emotions for personal and political gains is unwarranted .
Does he not know that the number of intellectuals and academicians who
supported the movement to abolish the PPSMI policy are individuals with high
credibility and academic credentials amongst the members of the bahasa group
of experts.
On what basis has he to downplay the arguments pointed by them on their
rejection of the policy through their in depth analysis on the effects PPSMI
on the development of Bahasa as a medium of knowledge advancement.
JMM’s accusation smacks of an ignorance , arrogance and disrespect towards
people who are experts in the field of language teaching. A raw data and a
simplistic conclusion that PPSMI should be continued is not an approach for
any policy change.
Unless JMM is full hardy to embrace whatever is English and therefore
perceived as globally competitive is the only answer for nation building ,
TERAS call on the JMM to state its stand clearly. JMM cannot screen itself
by portraying to be objective on this issue but in actual fact having a mind
set with an underlying notion of the superiority of English over Bahasa.
The main issue that comes to the fore is not about elevating the nation’s
human capital and to allow the people to compete in the age of globalisation
with a command of English but rather why is JMM being so timid of admitting
that Bahasa is equally if not more superior than English in moulding our
nation building agenda.
Why is competition and obsession that we should be at par with the developed
countries be the driving motivation for nation building. On whose yardstick
are we measuring our success or otherwise?
The president of JMM stated that the parties involved in rejecting PPSMI as
being hypocritical and not thinking of the best future for their children
and he believes in the superiority of English in securing jobs for the
future . Who is he to prove that such is the case.
The basic issue is about the pedagogical weakness in the present way of
teaching English and not of the teaching Mathematics and Science in English.
The ignorance of JMM in treating this issue is regretful. We propose that
JMM meet the language experts rather being simplistic about the acceptance
or rejection of PPSMI.
We call on the government not to revert back its decision to abolish PPSMI
as of 2012 . The unprecedented mass rally that proceeded in protesting PPSMI
on July 7th 2009 is a good enough measure of sentiment that majority of the
people in the country rejects PPSMI
If the government reverts its decision , then the education policy which is
vital in building this nation base on its own mould is just another rhetoric
and people will make their objection visible again..
Mod Azmi Abdul Hamid
TERAS President
Tel 019 4744856
Admin
