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Why we need English-medium national-type schools

— Lan Boon Leong
The Malaysian Insider
Sep 25, 2011

SEPT 25 — It was reported in the press last month that the Education Ministry is sticking by its decision to abolish the PPSMI policy of teaching and learning Science and Mathematics in English.

The abolishment of the policy means that the two subjects will be taught solely in Bahasa Malaysia in the national schools, and solely in Mandarin or Tamil in the national-type schools.

Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi, the Deputy Education Minister, said he and many other academics believe the two subjects need to be taught in the students’ mother tongues.

UNESCO, in fact, advocates mother-tongue education for all subjects because children learn better in their mother tongue. However, mother-tongue education, although desirable, will make the national and national-type schools even more ethnically polarised.

Moreover, there are many Malaysian children of diverse ethnic background — Malays included — whose mother tongue or first language is English. But there are presently no English-medium national-type schools to accommodate them. Aren’t these students disadvantaged compared to their peers whose mother tongue is Bahasa Malaysia or Mandarin or Tamil? Continue reading “Why we need English-medium national-type schools”

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Master the English language to be world class

By Hussaini Abdul Karim
August 27, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider

AUG 27 — It is very pleasing and most delightful to the ears to hear many non-Malay Malaysians, both young and old (except maybe some of the older ones) speaking and writing in perfect Bahasa Malaysia, some without even a hint of an accent whatsoever, in the case of the former.

The country’s New Education Policy to switch from English to Bahasa Malaysia introduced and implemented in the early 70s must have done wonders. With the introduction of new laws, rules and regulations, the policy makers have found a very effective way to teach the national language which is now widely used and accepted throughout the country at every level including in the home. Continue reading “Master the English language to be world class”

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History or Soviet-style propaganda? That is the question

by Andrew Aeria
The Malaysian Insider
Aug 15, 2011

AUG 15 — If anyone from the Ministry of Education held an honest, open and non-patronising discussion with our secondary schoolchildren on the subject of history as it is presently taught in school, they would discover that a huge majority of students view it as a painfully boring and utterly worthless subject.

They would also discover that students learn practically nothing from the subject. Instead, students only force themselves to memorise vacuous facts about people and events merely to pass their exams; an indoctrination exercise that defeats the whole purpose of why we educate our children in the first place.

I should know. I taught an introductory-level university course, “Malaysian Social History” to undergraduates for a few years. And to my astonishment, I discovered how intellectually and emotionally impoverished my undergraduates were about history. Not that they had not studied and even passed the subject with flying colours in their SPM/STPM exams, but because what they had previously memorised in school was simply not worth remembering! Stunned by their lack of interest in the subject, I examined the current school history syllabus and its teaching methods. I discovered to my horror and dismay that it is presently more predisposed to Soviet-style propaganda instead of being a subject that nurtures a passionate appreciation of our rich heritage and common humanity. Continue reading “History or Soviet-style propaganda? That is the question”

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Why can Mara teach Maths and Science in English?

G Vinod
Free Malaysia Today
August 10, 2011

The government wants to abolish the teaching of Maths and Science in English next year but Mara junior colleges will teach the subjects in English under the Cambridge programme.

PETALING JAYA: Even Mara understands the importance of English. Their junior colleges have decided to offer Cambridge programme, said Parent Action Group for Education Malaysia (Page).

Page chairperson Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim said in a statement this showed that even Mara, which largely caters for rural Malays, understood the importance of the English language.

On Saturday, Bernama reported that Mara would be offering the Cambridge International General Certificate of Secondary Education programme, equivalent to an O-Level certificate, at all 45 Mara Junior Science Colleges (MRSM) in Malaysia by 2016.

Currently, Mara director-general Ibrahim Ahmad said, the programme is being offered at the Tun Adbul Razak MRSM in Pekan, Pahang. Continue reading “Why can Mara teach Maths and Science in English?”

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Islamization of Education

by Bakri Musa
Chapter 9: Islam in Malay Life
Reform in Islam

There was a time when religion did not have any role in the Malaysian education system. Public schools were completely secular. There were some Christian missionary schools during colonial times, but they did not attract many Malay pupils. Malay parents were fearful that their children would be converted, a not unreasonable anxiety given the proselytizing fervor of those early missionaries. Following independence, religion was still kept out of the schools. There were Islamic schools but these were private, small, and mainly in rural areas. They catered exclusively to children of poor villagers. Their mission too was equally modest: teaching the basic rituals of Islam. Typically they were the one-teacher schools, the madrasah. Not much was expected and not much was delivered. I briefly attended one of them.

In light of the 9-11 attacks, there is much attention paid to the goings-on in these madrasah. They are less educational institutions and more indoctrination centers. They breed the kind of fanatical adherents to the faith – rigid and intolerant – that are the bane of so many Muslim societies. Continue reading “Islamization of Education”

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Set up a national education reform consultative council

Toh Kin Woon | Aug 3, 11
Malaysiakini

LLG Cultural Development Centre is highly concerned about the announcement by the Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin in mid July that the ministry was readying a study on a complete revamp of the existing education system.

The report is to be submitted to the cabinet for approval end of this year.

Education reform is of paramount importance. Any country proposing to review its national education system as a whole, will inevitably have to study thoroughly the shortcomings of the current education system, and to consult the opinions of various stake holders in relation to education reform.
Continue reading “Set up a national education reform consultative council”

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The Wisdom of the Students

By M. Bakri Musa

In a remarkable display of professorial prowess, University of Malaya Vice-Chancellor Ghauth Jasmon recently engaged his students in a two-hour dialogue on what it would take to make their university great. With humility, pedagogical skills, and great stage presence, he enthralled his audience while imparting an important message. They in turn were not at all shy in telling him the challenges they faced. It was truly a dialogue, not the usual one-way pedantic pronouncements.

Those students had a clear message not only for their Vice-Chancellor but also the country’s leaders and policy makers: Listen to us!

The session was even more remarkable as it was held after lunch, typically siesta time in the tropics. Anyone who has faced a classroom of students at that time of day knows how difficult it is to get their attention. Yet there they were – professor and students – intellectually engaging each other, interspersed with frequent cheers and laughter.
Continue reading “The Wisdom of the Students”

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Ten conditions for Umno

by Bahaman Abdullah
The Malaysian Insider
Jul 05, 2011

JULY 5 — Since Ibrahim Ali is so fond of giving everyone ultimatums (the latest being to MCA, Gerakan and Ambiga Sreenivasan), I suggest we give Umno and Najib Razak a list of 10 conditions to be met if he wants the support of urban Malaysia.

1) Distance yourself publicly from Ibrahim Ali and Perkasa. Failure to do so will be taken as a sign that all the garbage from Ibrahim is endorsed by the Umno president and his kuncu-kuncu.

2) Stop using divide and rule tactics to keep Malaysians apart. The only reason why BN worried about Bersih is that this election reform movement appears to have brought Malaysians of different races and religious groups together.

3) Tackle corruption and start by investigating cabinet ministers, senior politicians for living way, way beyond their means. Continue reading “Ten conditions for Umno”

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LKS backs Sabah Speaker on education autonomy

Jul 3, 11 | MalaysiaKini

DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang voiced support for Sabah Speaker Salleh Said’s call for the state education department to be given more power and autonomy.

Salleh had said reportedly said that many school buildings in Sabah are in a state of disrepair and educational projects are carried out only haphazardly due to the need to refer even simple matters to the education ministry headquarters in Putrajaya.

This, said the speaker, was jeopardising the government’s efforts in developing education in Sabah. Continue reading “LKS backs Sabah Speaker on education autonomy”

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Muhyiddin should fully devolve Education Ministry powers to Sabah State Department

The Sabah Speaker, Datuk Seri Salleh Tun Said has called for the Sabah State Education Department to be given more power and autonomy.

Salleh said many school buildings in the State are in need of repair and educational projects are not carried out systematically due to having to refer simple matters to Putrajaya jeopardising the Government’s efforts in developing education in Sabah.

The Sabah State Assembly Speaker has received the support of the Sabah State Education Director Datuk Dr. Muhiddin Yusin who has joined in the call for the state education department to be given greater empowerment on decision-making and the implementation of development projects, especially maintenance, training and recruitment of teachers. Continue reading “Muhyiddin should fully devolve Education Ministry powers to Sabah State Department”

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Attracting the Best To Teaching

By M. Bakri Musa

Early this year the US Department of Education, together with OECD and the Asia Society, convened a summit of education ministers, master teachers, and union leaders from 15 countries. The theme was on attracting, training and retaining the best teachers. Those were no ordinary countries participating; their students had consistently excelled in the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA).

America has some of the finest private and public schools, while its colleges and universities regularly dominate anybody’s list of the best. Yet there was US Education Secretary Duncan sponsoring this symposium and its opening speaker. That reflects the seriousness with which American leaders and policymakers consider education. It also shows their humility and commitment to learn from the best. I long for such traits in our leaders and educators.

The core assumption of the summit is that you cannot have excellent schools without excellent teachers. “Great teachers are not just born that way,” Secretary Duncan noted in his opening remarks. “It takes a high-quality system for recruiting, training, retaining, and supporting teachers over the course of their careers to develop an effective teaching force,” he continued.
Continue reading “Attracting the Best To Teaching”

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MP doubts PSD will implement Najib directives

By S Pathmawathy | Jun 23, 11
Malaysiakini

A DAP parliamentarian has lauded Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s announcement of granting highly-coveted Public Service Department (PSD) at pre-university level.

In welcoming the move, Tony Pua (DAP-Petaling Jaya Utara) described it as a way to “resolve the perennial scholarship conundrum”.

Every year many top ranking students complain of double standards in the awarding of PSD scholarships to students excelling in their Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) exams.
Continue reading “MP doubts PSD will implement Najib directives”

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Improving The Odds For Our Disadvantaged Students

By M. Bakri Musa

Students from a disadvantaged background face many challenges; thus it is not a surprise that they lag academically. This has always been true and accepted as normal. The consequence to this acceptance is that the students’ disadvantaged background becomes too ready an excuse for teachers and policymakers not to address the issue of widening educational achievement gap, blaming instead such factors as poverty and lack of parental involvement.

While those are relevant, there is much that schools, teachers and policymakers can do to turn disadvantaged students into “resilient” ones. A recent OECD study, Against The Odds. Disadvantaged Students Who Succeed in School, (PDF) confirms this. “Resilient” students, as defined by the study, are those from a disadvantaged socio-economic background relative to students in their country, and attain high scores by international standards.
Continue reading “Improving The Odds For Our Disadvantaged Students”

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Scholarships for those who earn and need it

Yap Mun Ching
The Sun
23 June 2011

AFTER many years of opaque silence, the debate over tertiary education scholarships has finally boiled over with public demands for the list of renegade Public Services Department Scholarship (PSD) holders to be published and at least one father threatening to sue a corporate foundation for not giving his son a scholarship to Cambridge. It is a timely debate and one that stands at the heart of the transparency and accountability pledge of the government.

To find our way out of this mess, a useful starting point is the criteria for allocating scholarships which has been veiled under much secrecy. In a letter to the NST, the chairman of the Centre for Public Policy Studies, Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam, stated the criteria as follows: academic achievement (20%), racial composition (60%), East Malaysia bumiputra (10%) and socially disadvantaged (10%).

If this is accurate, we can trace many of the controversies over allocation of scholarship funds to this set of guidelines. If only 20% of the national scholarship budget is used to award meritocracy; it is not surprising then that the majority of scholars that we turn out are of mediocre achievement. If only 10% is allocated to support poor students; no wonder movements like Hindraf strike a chord. It is uncertain if the bulk of the 70% of racial allocation is made with any secondary criteria (e.g. meritocratic and means-tested) as well, but it is galling for this writer to recall the PSD and GLC scholarship holders who had sufficient means to purchase vehicles and designer goods throughout their study abroad. Continue reading “Scholarships for those who earn and need it”

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Iban language: Pick the right candidates

FMT Staff
June 18, 2011 | Free Malaysia Today

KUCHING: The Sarawak Dayak Iban Association (SADIA) has chastised the authorities for its nonchalant approach to the Iban language.

SADIA chairman Edward Manggah said the Iban language was not like any other subject.

“The teachers must have the basics. You cannot just pick people randomly and make them teach,” he said in response to the latest controversy involving the selection of candidates for Bahasa Iban courses. Continue reading “Iban language: Pick the right candidates”

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Vernacular Education In Malaysia

By Zhi Wei Lee
31 May, 2011 | loyarburok.com

A consideration of the debate on vernacular schools, and the important roles that both national and vernacular schools have to play in Malaysia.

The debate on vernacular schools in Malaysia is often misleading, unconstructive and damaging. I say this because much discourse and opinions about vernacular schools have a dangerous tendency to suffer from oversimplification; you are either for the vernacular school, or you are for its abolition. This is little more than politicised banter — on one hand, it preaches to the choir; but on the other, it unnecessarily stirs up divisive communal frustrations. We must acknowledge that this recurring controversy is deeply-rooted in the convoluted web that is the fabric of Malaysian society — some of which our own doing, others an indirect result of British colonialism. Either way, its complexity demands greater attention and certainly, deeper analysis. Continue reading “Vernacular Education In Malaysia”

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Poor command of English affects job chances

By Teoh El Sen
June 9, 2011 | Free Malaysia Today

PETALING JAYA: Malaysians will be at a “slight disadvantage” in the competive global environment because of their poor command of English, said Jobstreet.com.

The online recruitment company recently placed Malaysia, behind Singapore and the Philippines in an English Language assessment test conducted in Asian countries.

“We are not that far off in the ranking but the third place does mean that we do have a slight disadvantage when we compete globally for businesses,” said JobStreet.com country manager Chook Yuh Yng.

Chook said there was a need to appreciate the importance of English proficiency as English is recognised as the international business language. Continue reading “Poor command of English affects job chances”

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If history was written by Interlok author Abdullah Hussain

By Centre for Policy Initiatives
June 09, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider

JUNE 9 — The Malaysian Insider yesterday (June 8) carried the rather arresting headline “Use Interlok as model for history textbooks, says historian”. The article reported a suggestion by Prof Anthony Milner for “Interlok” to be used as a model for history textbooks. The reasons given are that the novel is “wonderfully inclusive” and “sympathetic” in its narrative and depiction of non-Malays.

Milner, who is with UKM’s International Studies department, categorises “Interlok” as being “a bit of a historical novel” that provides an insight into the lives of the Chinese and Indian communities and their relationship with the Malay community.

The Australian academic is likely unaware that his proposal is every bit as controversial as Abdullah Hussain’s contentious novel. “Interlok” elicited the firestorm it has precisely because its sympathy quotient is no more than if a third-rate author were to attempt to copy Alex Haley’s acclaimed “Roots” (about the origins of the African-Americans) but narrating from a white slave owner’s supremacist point of view. Continue reading “If history was written by Interlok author Abdullah Hussain”

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One single school system

By Kamal Amzan
June 09, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider

JUNE 9 — Why is it so hard to have a single education system?

With all the talk about unity, certain sacrifices must be made. If a unified Malaysia cannot be fostered in this generation, we shouldn’t miss the bandwagon for the next generation.

I’ve said this before, and let me say it again. Let’s start with our divisive schools.

In order to make a single school system successful, the government must build more schools. When we have enough schools to cater for a single session, we can then begin to teach extra languages and cultural studies in the afternoon. Those who claim that the vernacular schools are built as a mean to propagate and preserve their cultures can then be permanently silenced. Continue reading “One single school system”

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DAP decries concession for PSD rejects

Jun 7, 11 2 | MalaysiaKini

DAP has urged the federal government to ensure all top Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) scorers are given scholarships to study overseas and grants to study locally in the interest of fair play and rewards based on meritocracy.

In a statement today, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said his party was against the federal government’s decision to compensate top scholars who failed to obtain Public Services Department (PSD) grants to study overseas.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Abdul Aziz said yesterday that 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) would be financing the grants for 500 qualified students who did not get PSD scholarships to study locally. Continue reading “DAP decries concession for PSD rejects”