Revert to Mother Tongue Instead

There are plenty of arguments in favour of using English or Bahasa Malaysia or both as a medium of instruction for Mathematics and Science. But why not use the students’ own mother tongues?

Instead of just English and Bahasa Malaysia, there should be a wider choice for students. Let Chinese students study Science and Mathematics in Mandarin; let Indian students study Science and Mathematics in Tamil; and so on.  If students are forced to study in a language they do not fare well in, they would feel frustrated and eventually hate both the language and the subject and just give up. This does not only apply to Science and Math. When I was studying in secondary school, I was terrible in BM, and as a result scored poorly in Pendidikan Moral, Sejarah and the likes. However, I aced all the subjects that were taught in English and Mandarin. On the other hand, my friends who enjoyed BM but disliked English and Mandarin fared differently- they aced subjects in BM and did poorly in the rest.

Now, with reference towards Ronin Tay’s letter “Look at the world and revert to Bahasa”, I would like to say that we cannot just compare our country’s education system with those of other more developed countries. We as a whole are not mature enough. How long has the proper education system in Malaysia been established? 60-70 years perhaps? Compared to countries such as France or Japan, our standard is still not up to par. We do not have full scientific recognition in the international level.

Sure, we can use Bahasa Malaysia as a medium in teaching Maths and Science, but only if the student chooses so. This should also be true with the other languages of the major ethnic groups in Malaysia. Why deny the Chinese the right to study Maths and Science in Mandarin? After all, China has some of the best mathematicians and scientists in the world. The famous Pythagoreas’ Theorem came centuries after it was first thought of in China. The Olympiad Mathematics in China is also arguably the toughest in the whole world. Mandarin is also the most used language world-wide. Also, why deny the Indians from learning Maths and Science in Tamil? Mandarin, English and Tamil rank higher than BM in terms of number of speakers and users internationally. Therefore, there has to be the freedom of choice for students.

Rather than just debate endlessly on the pros and cons of teaching Maths and Science in the respective languages, why not focus on improving the national education system itself? As mentioned by Ronin Tay, examinations just test the students’ memory, and I agree. I skipped Form 5 and the SPM examinations to enroll in a pre-university course in an international school. Although I did decently in my previous school, I had trouble adjusting to the new system. Everything was taught in English, except for second languages which were optional. The teachers encouraged independent, dynamic and creative learning; text books are secondary and no one is expected to memorize facts and just regurgitate them in class. For projects, guidelines were given and we had to work hard on our own or as a team. Students are also encouraged to take part in constructive discussions and debates. Although it seemed hard at first, I gradually got used to this system, and found that I enjoyed it. Back in my old school, there was little room for creativity. The syllabus does not allow students to question it.

It is unfair to just criticize the current implementation of languages used to teach subjects in school. It is merely the product of an unstable education system. We need a revision of the system, or future generations of students will suffer even more.