– Hussaini Abdul Karim
The Malaysian Insider
Oct 13, 2012

OCT 13 – It is only natural for parents to demand the best for their children. More so now that parents of the noughties are generally better informed, more knowledgeable and are more educated when compared to those of the 80’s, 70’s, 60’s or earlier.

Likewise, the government of Malaysia also demands the best from its people, the best of everything.

Therefore, it is only logical if the government provides the best in order for them to get the best. Our country is blessed with abundant natural resources, a stable economy, peace, prosperity and harmony, among others. The better the people (human capital) the better our country will be in terms of progress, economy and development. The provision of quality education and if accompanied by the necessary and complete infrastructure combined with having good teachers and trainers, will ensure us a continuous supply of the right human capital. So, providing quality education should be made a priority in any country to produce the best people. That includes our country Malaysia.

Parents send their children to schools not just because the laws require them to do so and they also do not send their children to schools just for the sake of sending them to schools. I am referring to the larger majority. Most parents, if not all, want their children to get a decent education and to go as high as possible, up to university level for a first degree, if not further.

Prior to the 70’s, we had English national schools and our people’s command of English language is as good as the best in all Commonwealth countries. Many proceeded to do their degrees in the United Kingdom, the US, Australia, Canada and New Zealand either by the government or as private students and they had no problems with language whatsoever.

Now, Malaysian students wishing to study in those countries need to take a language qualification examination before they can be accepted or they need to undergo a special English language programme before they are allowed to proceed with their university studies unless of course if they already have the Cambridge GCE ‘O’ or ‘A’ levels or equivalent.

In spite of that many who returned after completing their studies, except those who had their secondary school education in English, still cannot communicate in the language well. As a result, they fail to secure jobs and remain unemployed and they join the many local graduates who are jobless and some of them for as long as three years.

In a report by Malaysian Insider as shown here: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/young-and-jobless-malaysian-grads-a-rm500m-strain-on-taxpayers/ it is stated that Malaysia’s mushrooming local higher education institutions churned out a total of 184,581 graduates last year according to the latest statistics released by the Higher Education Ministry and out of that, 44,391 graduates or 24 per cent are unemployed and according to the Deputy Human Resource Minister Datuk Maznah Mazlan as at May this year, a total of 76,200 graduates are currently unemployed for various reasons and one of them is their inability to communicate in English.

Since national schools switched from English language to Bahasa Malaysia as the medium of instruction in the 70’s, the use of English dropped drastically and, needless to say, the standard also dropped drastically too.

In his letter, ‘ENGLISH: All to lose by depriving them’ by Hassan Talib of Gombak, Selangor (NST Friday, 12 October 2012) he wrote, among others, “Many employers lament that a large number of foreign graduates has a problem with the English language. They may have good grades, but in the working world, paper qualifications mean nothing if it is not complemented with fluent English communication skill.

The authorities may not realise the volcano and earthquake they are creating among graduates who are weak in English and unable to compete on a level playing field.

English is the way forward in education, business, commerce, international relations, negotiations and literature. The British left us a good English language legacy. Many countries that were not colonised by the British are envious for want of the English language.

We have it, yet we don’t want to use it. Once upon a time, our English proficiency was on a par with any English-speaking Commonwealth country. Today, our students have to sit a special English examination to be admitted to any American or British university.

As Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has mentioned many times, we should not politicise education for the sake of future generations.

Many analysts have also suggested, in echoing what the PM said that Malaysia’s dream of boosting the standard through an ambitious overhaul of the national school system will not happen for as long as politicians continue to be involved in drawing up its policies.

As a testimony of the bad situation it was reported recently that some officers serving with the Foreign Service Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, some based in our embassies or commissions in English speaking countries, whose command of the language are not up to the mark and that has prompted the ministry to conduct special English language classes for their officers.

Yes, English language is still taught in national schools but it’s too little to be effective enough so much so that many students and teachers do not give any care or attention to it at all.

Many people tried to make serious attempts to check the slide and that includes our former Prime Minister, TDM in advocating English language as the language for science and technology, which is also what is accepted universally, who did not want our students to be left behind introduced the PPSMI policy which was implemented in 2003 however, after he resigned in 2003, and Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi took over as the Prime Minister, and after the political tsunami of 2008 which saw the ruling coalition losing many ‘sure’ seats and due to some political differences, decided that PPSMI is not suitable for national schools and thus, many announcements from the Ministry of Education (MoE) were made stating that it would be abolished since then. Finally, the Minister of Education made an announcement on 8 July 2009 that PPSMI will be totally abolished in 2012. That was a very big blow not only for PAGE and parents nationwide who did not have the opportunity to be represented through PAGE, but also the children.

“Outraged as parents may be as that tantamount to regressing the journey of our children’s education, it was a decision that all must live with for the moment,” says PAGE.

Before that, many appeals were made by concerned citizens, including an NGO known as Parent Action Group for Education (PAGE) which has a former management accountant and a Certified Financial Planner turned fulltime housewife, Datin Noor Azimah Rahim, as their president and which was officially set up on 13 September 2008 with their main objective to get PPSMI re-instated in national schools.

Noor Azimah studied in Britain before she returned to start a career in the financial sector including a stint with Bank Negara Malaysia first as an administrative officer, and then as an executive assistant to an adviser in the Governor’s Office, in Bank Negara. PAGE ‘s mission is ‘To provide a platform for parents’ feedback on educational issues and enable its transmission to the Ministry of Education’. Since they were formed, they did everything possible that they could do but unfortunately they still failed to get the government to change their stand. PAGE hasn’t given up with their fight yet.

PAGE holds strongly the notion that children who have potential to excel must NOT in any way be impeded by those who may need a bit more coaching.

A new programme called ‘Memartabatkan Bahasa Malaysia dan Memperkukuhkan Bahasa Inggeris (MBMMBI) has since last year been introduced to replace PPSMI.

The ‘fight’ however, did not stop there and it will go on indefinitely and now the people, including those outside PAGE, are not only fighting for the re-instatement of PPSMI or to introduce PPSMI schools, they are also fighting for the re-introduction of English medium schools or to introduce an integrated national school or retain national schools but get MOE to increase the number of subjects taught in English to enhance the MBMMBI programme. Subjects taught in Bahasa Malaysia and English language must each be given equal content and equal number of hours taught for MBMMBI to become more effective, i.e. 50% for Bahasa Malaysia and subjects taught in Bahasa and 50% for English language and subjects taught in English. They are calling for the Education Blueprint to be revised and to those said demands included.

“Our students are far behind” says the headline of a report in a local mainstream Malay tabloid on 6th October 2012 and, “The ministry plans to place emphasis on three important aspects, thinking skills, IT and communications,” the report continued.

According the Deputy Education Minister Dr Mohd Puad Zarkarshi in the same report, based on the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) report, Malaysia is placed 55 out of 77 countries and we are far behind Singapore, Hong Kong and China and as a consolation, we are still ahead of Indonesia. He looks as if, based on the photo caption that accompanied the report, he is happy about it and happy also that we are still ahead of Indonesia. However, personally, I believe, if we are not careful and changes and/or improvements on our education policies and systems are not forthcoming soon, we will be behind Indonesia. Is that what he is waiting for before something drastic is done? Why Indonesia? Why not use Singapore, Hong Kong and China or Finland, as the benchmark?

Countries compete for the international economic pie and want to be seen that they are not only just stronger economically than their neighbours and rivals; they must also be seen to be stronger and superior in many other aspects. At the least, they must be ahead and more advanced in technology, productivity, stability, among others and the most important factor for a country to remain ahead of their neighbours and rivals, I think, is to have superior human capital. The future standard of our human capital entering the workforce Malaysia, now languishing at the 55th position out of 77th, definitely isn’t!

Looking at the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013 – 2025 again, and in particular at the list of names of the National Education Panel members and the list of names of the National Review Panel members, both list shown below, which are very impressive indeed, who conducted the National Education Dialogue and tasked to look into improving the National Education Policy, the advisors, both local and international, and when I try to associate the Blueprint with them, this question always lingers on my mind: “Is that the best that they can come out with?”

They are amongst the best brains in the country to review and improve on our education system.

Individually, I believe, each and every one of the respective and highly respected panel members mentioned above can come out with an excellent blueprint that is better than the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013 – 2025 but together, they should be able to come out with the best, going by international standard even. Therefore, the answer to my question above is, “No!”

I have spoken to some of the key figures from both panels myself, including two of the members of the international review panel, and I am disappointed to know that that their advice is not heeded upon.

The question is, “What happened to all of the more pertinent and important points that they must have raised after debating them but are not in the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013 2025? Also, what happened to the more important and pertinent proposals submitted by the members of the public at the 16 Townhall sessions of the National Education Dialogue that commenced in April and ended in July?

Dato’ Johan Jaffar’s article in his regular NST Saturday column said, “How, I wonder, can anyone learn a language without understanding its grammar? Yet, according to the Minister of Education, “grammar” as we understand it, has not been taught in school for many years.”

Language learning should begin by making students excited and interested. Language is dynamic. It is alive and kicking. Great stories are told in beautifully crafted words. Wordsmiths are the geniuses of civilisation. They make us love the language. We admire their works for that.

To achieve that, they have to write well. Even if we can’t be like them at least we can use language to communicate effectively or at least write simple sentences to express our thoughts and views. It all begins with grammar.
Read more: Teaching English, and grammar, the old way – Columnist – New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/opinion/columnist/teaching-english-and-grammar-the-old-way-1.153132#ixzz28cWIdJZP

Hassan Talib of Gombak, Selangor in his letter, ‘ENGLISH: All to lose by depriving them’ (NST ‘Letters’ Oct 12, 2012) says that, “IT is a pity the authorities concerned refuse to accept the declining standard of English.

They still believe that the issue of English is not a matter of life and death. They think we can still attain educational excellence without English.

Many organisations and individuals have voiced their concern, but it has fallen on deaf ears. The authorities feel what they are doing is for the good of others. Therefore, they introduce so-called pragmatic measures by pouring in millions of ringgit with no concrete results to show.

Students suffer in silence.

The authorities may not realise the volcano and earthquake they are creating among graduates who are weak in English and unable to compete on a level playing field.

English is the way forward in education, business, commerce, international relations, negotiations and literature. The British left us a good English language legacy. Many countries that were not colonised by the British are envious for want of the English language.

We have it, yet we don’t want to use it. Once upon a time, our English proficiency was on a par with any English-speaking Commonwealth country. Today, our students have to sit a special English examination to be admitted to any American or British university.

As Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has mentioned many times, we should not politicise education for the sake of future generations.
Read more: http://www.nst.com.my/mobile/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/english-all-to-lose-by-depriving-them-1.155803

There are many strong and excellent arguments already made during the past many years by education experts (both local and foreign), parents and students, in support of English language and I do not need to mention any of them again here and they are more than enough to convince anyone on the importance of English language.

I know, language nationalists, including among them some very senior university dons, some of our country’s top scholars, some top civil servants and some local, famous literary figures and some people on-the-street, not to mention many politicians from both sides of the divide, will continue to throw cold water on any plans, proposals, suggestions or ideas whenever the subject of English language is mentioned and let me plead with all of them to put aside sentiments or whatever personal agendas they may have and to think more of the country and the young people in national schools and the coming generations of Malaysians who are our future. Being placed 55 out of 77 countries by PISA is a disgrace when we know that we have the potential to be very much better, being placed in the top ten countries even.

Many of those language nationalists I know had their early and higher education in English and some studied for their 1st, 2nd and their doctoral degrees in English at overseas universities and I believe some of their sons and daughters too did and are doing the same thing but for them to go against using English in our national schools is only very peculiar and very selfish of them.

After 40 years of enduring failure (and shame), will the next 40 years, if the same policies, programmes, syllabus and systems still prevail, improve the standard and make us one of the best in the world?

There are no Malaysian public universities in the top 400 of the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2012 – 13 report. How do the people who hold the power and the authority in dictating where our education would lead us to feel about this?

The Ministry of High Education (MOHE) has taken the initiative, as an effort to check the slide in the standard of English among graduates, has come up with an English language programme meant for students entering university known as “English for Employment” to meet the requirements of the working world under a new system which classifies students according to their levels of competency.

The whole programme known as “English for Specific Discipline” will be conducted in three tiers – English for Employment, Intensive English and General English, as formulated by the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE).

The responsibility to ‘supply’ students who meet with the all the public universities minimum requirements, including meeting the minimum standard for English language set, falls on the shoulders of schools but with the national education policy not putting much emphasis on the subject, they are unable to do so not because they did not want to but because of the constraints placed by the Ministry of Education. Therefore, the MOHE has kindly started the initiative mentioned but this surely cannot go on indefinitely and MOE has to perform their responsibilities without giving any excuses at all anymore.

I have met their Director General Higher Education Department, Professor Datuk Dr Rujhan Mustafa and some members of the Council of Deans (English language) where I suggested some improvements to the programme which I am pleased to state here that they were accepted and will be implemented.

The country changed the national education policy about 40 years ago switching from English to Bahasa Malaysia and we all can see that the results and the implications are not impressive at all. No one can deny that and statistics do not lie. Give another 40 years without making that change, I think, we will be the worst in the world and we will be below Indonesia even knowing that they themselves have embarked on enhancing and increasing the use and the teaching of English in their schools, colleges and universities.

The government has put in place a very deeply thought-out, thoroughly studied and impressive Economic (ETP) and the Government Transformation Plans (GTP) to make our country a fully developed one by 2020, to be a country with 1st World status and to get our people to enjoy a high income. In order to achieve all the ETP and the GTP objectives, our own human capital must be prepared, taught and trained so that they can be fully depended upon to achieve all the objectives. We surely do not want foreigners to be the ones whom we want to depend on to achieve those objectives.

Everyone in the country sees the problem and wants to improve on it, except the government, most unfortunately.

It was reported by Jakarta Post recently that Indonesia will stop teaching English in all public schools from next year but this must not be used as a criteria to support the government’s move in not adding the number of subjects to be taught in English to enhance the MBMMBI policy. Indonesia has more than 240 million people, more than nine times our population, and with that sheer number and size of their country which is very much bigger than ours, they can survive just with Bahasa Indonesia alone but still, can they be a fully developed country and a country with 1st World Status with the majority of their people not knowing any foreign language, in particular English?
(Read here: http://www.economywatch.com/in-the news/indonesian-government-wants-primary- schools-to-stop-teaching-english.12-10.html)

We Malaysia want to be fully a developed country, a country with 1st World and the people to enjoy a high-income economy by 2020 therefore, we must know English language, at least, and it would be better if our people also know some other foreign languages such as Mandarin, Arabic, French, Spanish or German, for example.

At an open dialogue on the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025 preliminary report at the Kuala Lumpur Urban Transformation Centre, Pudu Sentral here on Saturday 6th October 2012, Education Deputy Director General (Education Policy and Development Sector) Dr Amin Senin said participants were concerned about the quality of teaching method, syllabus and proficiency of English teachers in teaching the language.

“To allay parents and guardians’ fears, the quality of English language teaching should be improved to ensure that students can master the language,” he told reporters after the dialogue.

Amin, who is a panel member, said the input and feedback would be brought to a special committee chaired Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who is also the Minister of Education, for scrutiny.

“If the proposals and feedback can lead to an improvement in the quality of education, we are willing to incorporate them in the report,” he said.
What the Education Deputy Director General said above has been said many times before and I do not think the minister will change his stand. He also said that another dialogue would be held at the same venue on a date to be announced later following requests from stakeholders for a bigger hall to be provided for the discussion to accommodate more participants.

Similar dialogues will be held at the Johor Education Department, Johor Baharu, the Kelantan Trade Centre, Kota Baharu (both on Oct 13), Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang (later this month), Kuching and Suria Sabah, Jalan Pantai, Kota Kinabalu (both on Oct 20). MOE can organise as many dialogue sessions as they wish but without the will, commitment and stamina of the government and the minister himself to institute the changes, the people who have said so much and who will repeat, if asked to, what they have said, regardless how many times they do it, nothing will change.

I am not suggesting that our national language, Bahasa Malaysia, be relegated second to English language, we can always have policies, plans, programmes and syllabus placing Bahasa Malaysia at the top most, followed by English and vernacular languages and this will make our students bilingual, if not tri-lingual and at least, with their command of both languages, or all three languages, equally good.

Concerned citizens, all stakeholders, including parents, students, teachers, civil servants, professionals and non-professionals, the private sector, people from all walks of life, etc. are all together in this and we hope the government is not out of touch with us and preferring instead to resort to political decisions only.

Our education standard can be better than or at least as good as Singapore, Hong Kong and China or Finland.

Let us, the people, be allowed to contribute more to the country and let us know more than just Bahasa Malaysia well. That’s the only way we can do that. By just being good in one language only our efforts can be too limited and we may not be able to do more which we are capable of if given the opportunity.

With the level of English for the past 20 years in our national schools, public colleges and public universities having dropped to a very low level and the general standard of our education level rated to be amongst the worst in the world, we need to make a drastic change now and like it or not, while we keep using Bahasa Malaysia in schools, mastering English language is the way to get us out of the rut.