Ever since our Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, took over the profile of the Ministry of Education, he has introduced 2 major changes--capping of SPM subjects and a must pass for English. Since then,many people from various society background had given their views and suggestions via Internet, newspaper or sms. Hence, I would like to give my feedback on this issue too.^^
I sat for the SPM examination last year and I did not face any difficulty to learn Maths and Science in English. Moreover, I felt more comfortable to learn everything in English rather than in Bahasa Kebangsaan. The Maths and Science subjects that are taught in English arouse my interest to study without feeling bored unlike other subjects such as history. I had to eat a lot of ice-creams and chocolates when I was studying history in order to keep me awake. I am not saying that Bahasa Kebangsaan is not good but I think that the Ministry of Education should allow students to choose their preferred medium of studies. Some students prefer to learn in English while others think otherwise. Thus, the Ministry of Education should consider reverting the dual school system where there is English school as well as the SK schools.
Next, I would like to highlight the present English standard of our country. It is quite common for us to see some students who scored 1A in their English but they can get a B3 or even a C for their GCE O Level. So, what's the problem? This shows that our English standard is below the bar and some serious measures have to be carried out. One way out of this problem is transparency. Our educational system should be revamped and the SPM markers should stop adjusting the "graph" just to increase the passing rate. We reap what we sow. It is time for the Ministry of Education and the Lembaga Peperiksaan to reveal the actual marks of our students in any general examinations. By doing so, students will know how good or how terrible they fair in the examinations and this will inadvertently solve the dilemma of the PSD scholarship too.
As for those "katak di bawah tempurung" people who harps on the virtues of Bahasa Kebangsaan, they should take a look at our neighbouring country--Singapore. Bahasa Melayu is their national language too but Singaporeans speak fluent English with slang everyday. However, they didn't change their national anthem which is sang in Bahasa Melayu. This shows that the position of our national language will not be ousted easily although we communicate in different language in our daily life. Hence, everyone should accept the fact that English is an important language and we have to master it to bring prosper and development to our nation.
2 comments:
For your information, Singaporeans do not know how to sing their national anthem. They just open their mouth and follow the beat. That's what my Singaporean friend said. So, we can realistically say BM is already extinct in Singapore. I don't think we should emulate Singapore in dropping BM, it signifies our heritage, a universal symbol that we're Malaysians. Yes, follow their quality education and public facilities but not scrapping BM altogether.
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