Archive for the ‘English - Medium Schools’ Category

English-Medium Schools: Don’t Ignore Reality

Saturday, July 24th, 2010
Ministry of Education (MOE) would like to refer to Letter to Editor by Hussaini Abdul Karim, Shah Alam, Selangor, published in THE New Straits Times dated 25 June 2010 on the issue of   – English-Medium Schools : Don’t Ignore Reality.

Issue addressed by the reader:

The reader suggested English-medium schools to be reintroduced. According to the reader, the present system that use national language as a medium of instruction doesn’t achieve national schools aim as a place of social and cooperative living of future generations. The reader also noticed that there are some disunity between the races. According to him, Malaysians from different communities including the younger generation who went through a common national education system, speak the national language differently. He believed that English-medium schools can solve these problems or at least alleviate them. Besides that, he also suggested MOE to introduce trilingualism in schools.

Ministry of Education (MOE) would like to refer to an article by Hussani Abdul Karim from Shah Alam, Selangor published in NEWS STRAITS TIMES dated 25th June 2010 on the issues of- “ Don’t Ignore Reality” . The Ministry Education would like to thank Hussani for his view.
The 1996 Education Act stated that Bahasa Malaysia is the main language of instruction in schools. It is to uphold Bahasa Malaysia to its rightful place as the National Language in Malaysia as stipulated in Article 152 in the Constitution. The Cabinet Committee Report (1979) also recommended Malay Language as the main medium of instruction and English as a second language to be taught at all level of education. Therefore, MOE through The Education Development Master Plan (EDMP) 2006 – 2010 indentified ‘Strengthening the National Schools as one of the six thrusts to strengthen the national education system. This is because National Schools form the best foundation for cultivating racial solidarity. Various subjects have been introduced in National Schools to provide a more holistic approach to education which reflects the multi- racial society in Malaysia . Besides offering Malay and English Language as core subjects, National School also offer Chinese, Tamil, Kadazandusun, Arabic Language (Communication), Japanese, French and German as additional subjects in secondary schools. In primary National Schools, Chinese and Tamil Language are offered as additional subjects.
MOE realized that Bahasa Malaysia is the national language that promotes unity, as well as the main language of communication and knowledge towards nation building in the quest for 1Malaysia. Meanwhile, English Language is the language of international communication and is necessary to explore knowledge on international and global level. Therefore MOE has developed a policy ‘To Uphold Bahasa Malaysia , To Strengthen The English Language (MBMMBI)’. Various strategies have been outlined to uphold  Bahasa Malaysia and also strengthen the English Language such as producing quality Bahasa Malaysia teachers and increasing the number of periods for the teaching and learning of English in schools.
The above policy and strategies are to ensure the quality of Malaysian Education system as well as to promote national schools as a choice for all Malaysians.
Corporate Communication Unit,
Ministry of Education Malaysia.

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English – medium schools: They can give us a leg up.

Thursday, May 20th, 2010

It is time to bring back English-medium schools.

It is time to bring back English-medium schools.

I CAN’T understand why the government is reluctant to re-introduce English-medium schools and to have lectures in English in the public universities.

The majority of the people want this and have been asking for it for so long. What are we waiting for?

Malaysia lost the edge to its neighbours long ago, and now we are losing to almost all of the countries that used to be behind us in almost everything. The reason: the very poor standard of English of most of our people today.
Local graduates just cannot compete on the international front because of their serious handicap. Many multinationals here are unhappy that local employees, among them many local graduates, have a very poor command of both written and spoken English.

One has only to see the numerous mistakes in English used on public notice boards, at shopping malls and complexes, government departments, primary and secondary schools, books, newspapers, TV stations and radio stations to know that the language has deteriorated.

Even some of our very senior government servants, professionals in government service and the private sector are guilty of a poor command of the English language.
But the little that has been done has not improved the situation. Concerned Malaysians have untiringly made proposals and suggestions to the authorities about the need to remedy the situation, but to no avail.

The number of naysayers to the proposal to bring back English-medium schools is few. They are against it mainly for nationalistic reasons.

However, if the English language is re-introduced in all primary and secondary schools or even in universities, their interests will still be served and Bahasa Malaysia will not be neglected.
I am sure the government and the authorities concerned would not find it difficult to ensure that.

If one looks at the situation prior to the 1970’s, the majority of us attended English primary and secondary schools and many of us continued our studies either at local or foreign universities. Some went on to some of the top institutions in the world — which teach in English — and did very well. And our values are still intact.

Our culture and customs remain unchanged and our outlook as Malaysians, regardless of race, language and religion remains as expected of us.

Many, like me, did very well in both English and Bahasa Melayu before furthering our studies at colleges and universities. Many went on to have successful careers or businesses; many also found important jobs in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. The whole world at that time recognised and acknowledged our ability.

The re-introduction of English in schools and universities will not only reduce, and in time close, the gap between us and our neighbours, it will make us more competitive and sought after.

As a result, there will be more development and growth and our economy will improve. Proficiency in the use of the English language will be the catalyst to achieve the targets stipulated in Vision 2020 and the New Economic Model.

by Hussaini Abdul Karim.

http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/18engmed/Article/

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