By Dr Chen Man Hin, DAP life advisor
The 2007 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) shows that students from developed countries are the top scorers and they are the movers and engineers responsible to make their countries progressive and prosperous.
Hogging the top places are Singapore, Taipei, S. Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, England, United States and Russia, with scores from 10 and above.
Unfortunately Malaysia had low scores of 3 and are seen in the company of Indonesia, Colombia, Georgia, Ukraine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Botswana, Algeria, etc.
Malaysia at independence was as rich as Japan and had a high per capita income. But now Malaysia has been overtaken by Singapore, Taipei, S. Korea and Hong Kong. They progressed faster because of better education in science, maths and engineering.
DPM Muhyiddin should take note of the TIMS report and raise the standard of science and maths among our students.
He should revoke his policy to ban PPSMI. We urge him to allow and encourage the students to use English to learn more maths and science so that they will graduate and be technologists and engineers and managers to build up the country.
English should be the language for Science and Maths education in the schools. Singapore is a good example where English is the common language, and today Singapore is acknowledged to be the model for schools in USA and Europe. Of course, science and maths can be studied in Bahasa or Chinese or Tamil, but in a multilingual society in Malaysia, English is a common language for technology and science.
Muhyiddin must remember that one of the objectives of 1 Malaysia is to have an IT, high tech society so as to transform Malaysia to be a high income economy. He should do the honourable thing and REVOKE THE BAN on PPSMI, and give hundreds of thousands young Malaysians the opportunity to be managers, scientists, engineers and technologists to make Malaysia progressive and prosperous.
This is what our students are learning without PPSMI—
Hardware = perkakasan keras
Software =perkakasan lembut
Joystick = batang gembira
Plug and play = cucuk dan main
Port = lubang
Server = pelayan
Client = pelanggan
So when translated,
The server gives a plug and play service to the clients using either hardware or software joystick. The joystick goes into the port of the client.”
becomes
“Pelayan itu memberi pelanggannya layanan cucuk dan main dengan menggunakan batang gembira jenis keras atau lembut. Batang gembira itu dimasukkan ke dalam lubang pelanggan….”
Will you folks stop harping on high marks in science and maths ? Can’t you understand that the rambutan monopoly doesn’t require high marks in these subjects ? Cintanegara says that he can count and that’s all that matters.
If DAP is sincere in supporting PPSMI, then DAP must convince PR coalition to make a statement to support PPSMI as an option. Please be reminded that PKR and PAS still do not support PPSMI as an option. PR coalition greatest weakness is its lack of cohesiveness. The inability to make a common stand to support
ppsmi is a good example.
One Two Five Twenty four, Six, Ninety, Ten.
There. I can count. And I can count, therefore I am good. And oh yes, my name is cintanegara sometimes known as chengho.
Among those countries that has scores of 3, is Malaysia the best?
Oh, then its OK.
The last kid in ‘A’ class will be the 1st kid in ‘B’ class.
To be fair to DSAI, he did not say that he didnot support the use of English but at the moment there are insufficient qualified English teachers to do it. If English needs to be polished, he even suggested that in China, top students bound for top overseas universities are given intensive English classes for up to one year before going overseas. This short term suggestion seems practical and in the mean time up grade the number of English classes so that the students become efficient in the language! Of course, children in town can still get tuition in English, being a politician he is also concern about unequal opportunity to the rural people. This current scenario can be vlamed only on the BN education policy! That is why we need a total change!
What’s TIMSS? It sounds Greek 2 UmnoB/BN, esp mooooooo, sure not PISS aaah?
Itu say faham lor