>BACKING DR M, EX-MINISTER SLAMS FANATIC OPPONENTS OF PPSSMI..... KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 15 — A former Umno minister has lashed out at “fanatics” for opposing the Teaching of Science and Mathematics in English (PPSMI) and threw his support behind former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s call to resurrect the abruptly abandoned programme. Tan Sri Zainuddin Maidin said the fanatics, whom he said were “haunted by xenophobia”, misinterpreted Dr Mahathir’s motive in introducing the PPSMI scheme, which he asserted was to tempt students from Chinese vernacular education back towards national schools. “Mahathir is not intending to replace the national schools by going back to the English schools as hoped for by the Chinese that do not have a national spirit but he only wants the two subjects to be taught in English, besides strengthening the teaching and learning of English,” the former information minister wrote in his blog yesterday. Zainuddin claimed that fanatics had derailed Dr Mahathir’s attempt to implement the education policy, saying that they should realise that it would cause Chinese-medium vernacular schools to decline. “The implementation of the teaching of Science and Mathematics in English in national schools will cause the decline of the Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina, but the Malay-language fanatics have worked to fail Mahathir’s efforts. “The effect of the implementation of this policy is what is feared most by Chinese education fighters because many Chinese who are practical-minded and materialistic will certainly go back to sending their children to national schools because the quality and value will be more than Chinese schools,” he said, later citing a purported private conversation with two unnamed Gerakan leaders during his term as an information minister. On Tuesday, Dr Mahathir repeated his plea for schools to teach science and mathematics in English, saying this was crucial for Malaysians to catch up with the latest developments and help the country achieve its goal of becoming a developed nation. “May I once again appeal for the teaching of science and mathematics be in English. Let us be realistic. Malay is not yet the language of science and mathematics,” he was quoted saying by national news agency Bernama, later pointing out that many research papers were produced in English. “Students will not be employable even. Most of the jobless graduates are not proficient in English. It would be sad if students do well in school but they are rejected for employment because of poor or inadequate command of English,” he said. Dr Mahathir said that nationalists who think that nationalism was about being able to speak Bahasa Malaysia — the country’s national language — well were wrong. “Nationalism is about becoming successful in all fields of life, being able to contribute towards the growth and development of your country and your race, being respected and admired by others, being leaders in whatever field you enter and being able to stand tall. That is true nationalism,” he added. In 2003, Dr Mahathir introduced PPSMI, but the Najib-led administration reversed the policy in 2009 and reverted to using Bahasa Malaysia as the medium of instruction. The government then rolled out the Upholding Bahasa Malaysia and Strengthening English (MBMMBI) programme, in what was seen as a bid to appease those who supported PPSMI and pacify those insisting on using Bahasa Malaysia only in schools.
Posted on: Fri, 15 Nov 2013 12:45:08 +0000
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