WITH the flip-flop in education policy over the Teaching and Learning of Science and Mathematics in English, commonly referred to by its Malay acronym PPSMI, the most vulnerable victims are the two million plus schoolchildren who are coasting along in the winding-down stage of this legacy scheme.

The last batch of students will sit for mathematics and science in English in the 2021 Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examinations.

With an average of 470,000 students sitting for the SPM annually, it is estimated that over two million children fall under the PPSMI scheme until the phaseout is complete.

However, it is reported that some schools have taken it upon themselves to stop the PPSMI and switch to its replacement, that is the Upholding the Malay Language and Strengthening Command of English (MBMMBI) scheme, which places emphasis on strengthening students’ command of both Bahasa Melayu and English.

Concerned groups, including the Parent Action Group for Education (Page), have raised the matter with Education Minister II Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh so that students are not left in the lurch.

As a result, headmasters and principals were given a reminder and a dressing down by the Education Ministry recently.

At a March 17 briefing at the Federal Territories Education Department, ministry officials reminded the gathering of the Cabinet decision in 2011, where it was agreed that MBMMBI would be implemented via a “soft landing” approach.

At the briefing titled “PPSMI extended till 2021; MBMMBI implemented via soft landing”, school principals were informed about how they should handle the last batch of students put under the PPSMI scheme when they started Year One back in 2011.

A school principal who attended the briefing says they were reminded that it is wrong for any school to refuse to teach the last batch of PPSMI students science and mathematics in English.

“They have to find a way. They cannot say ‘no’ to parents whose children began Year One under the PPSMI system. The schools must support this cohort until they finish their SPM in 2021.

“That year will be the final year for PPSMI,” explains the principal, who requested anonymity.

However, the principal admits that perhaps some schools might not have the human capital or the means to educate the last cohort under the PPSMI system, leading to the complaints in the first place.

‘Stubborn principals part of the problem’
Page chairman Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim says she has received reports from concerned parents and met Idris last month.

“The excuse that some of these schools gave was that they wanted to streamline the system. This defeats the 2011 Cabinet decision not to impose Bahasa Melayu on the students [who are still under PPSMI].

“Since 2011, there could be new principals who never received the circular and are too stubborn to listen to their teachers who want to do the right thing,” says Noor Azimah.

Pushing for Page’s agenda, she advocates that the Education Ministry should continue allowing students to choose whether they want to be taught under the PPSMI or the MBMMBI scheme.

“The prime minister said they want to tighten the English requirements for public universities. In the past, you needed to pass Band 1 under the Muet (Malaysian University English Test) to qualify for science-related disciplines. Now you have to pass Band 3 and Band 4 for medicine and law.

“If you want to graduate, you need to pass Band 4 for the science disciplines and Band 5 for medicine and law. So … [they] took away PPSMI and plonked this on us. That’s not fair, is it?” she asks.

Noor Azimah points out that there’s no excuse for the government not to allow PPSMI to continue since trained teachers are already available, as the first batch taught under the PPSMI scheme in 2003 are now fresh graduate teachers this year.

“The ministry can’t say they failed in PPSMI and cannot start it again because the manpower and the students have been armed with it, and also the MBBMBI. They have no excuse. The teachers and students are more prepared than ever,” says Noor Azimah.

Her sentiments are echoed by a recipient of the Excellent Mathematics Teacher Award who complains that her efforts to master English as an instructive language have been wasted.

“When I was first asked to teach science and maths in English all those years ago I had to use a script. I’m Malay, born in the East Coast, and I wasn’t used to the language. Sometimes I had to switch back to Bahasa Melayu to explain to the students who did not understand what I was trying to say.

“But as time went by and I practised it, I became more and more fluent and the same happened to my students. Then, when I’ve finally mastered it sufficiently to be able to fluently teach in English … they decided to scrap it.

“What a waste,” complains the Terengganu-based teacher, who requested anonymity.

PPSMI in a nutshell
The Teaching and Learning of Science and Mathematics in English (PPSMI), the brainchild of former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, was aimed at addressing the problems faced by Malaysian graduates who lacked fluency in English and thus had poor job prospects.

The idea was mooted in 2002 and implemented barely a year later in 2003. Critics initially pointed out that PPSMI was rolled out in a hurry because Dr Mahathir wanted it in place before he handed over the reins of government to his successor Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

The scheme saw more than RM3 billion spent on information technology hardware to facilitate the teaching of mathematics and science in English.

Unfortunately as there was a lack of qualified teachers when the policy was introduced, the national academic grade average suffered, especially in the rural Malay heartland where students were less proficient in English.

This led to demands by Malay nationalists for the scheme to be scrapped on the grounds that PPSMI undermined the position of Bahasa Melayu as the national language despite the call by many parents and employers to retain the scheme.

A poll by the Merdeka Center for Opinion Research in 2009 showed that 58% of the respondents wanted English to remain as the language of instruction for the two subjects.

The change of policy was viewed as a flip-flop by a number of teachers, educators, non-governmental organisations and politicians.

Dr Mahathir was highly critical of the calls to scrap the scheme, writing numerous scathing articles in his blog against Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who is the Education Minister.

PPSMI’s replacement, known as Upholding the Malay Language and Strengthening Command of English (MBMMBI), started for Year One pupils in 2012.

By 2021, MBMMBI is expected to be fully implemented as the last batch of PPSMI students will take their Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah examinations next year and finish their Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia in 2021.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on March 27, 2015.