TEACHING AND LEARNING OF SCIENCE AND MATHS IN BM & MOTHER TONGUE IN 2012

The teaching and learning of science and mathematics in national schools will revert to Malay Language while in Chinese and Tamil national-type schools will be carried out in their respective mother tongue. The matter was announced today, July 8 2009 by the Deputy Prime Minister who is also the Education Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin in Putrajaya.

Malaysians particularly parents should accept the decision positively and with open mind. We must realize that the decision was not made lightly, not dictatorially, free from sentiments and from pressures. Experts in this particular field made it after careful and extensive studies.

Personally I fervently hail the announcement for reasons as put forward in a post, “Pengajaran dan Pembelajaran – Guna Bahasa Yang Paling Difahami” (Teaching and Learning – Use Languages That Are Most Understood) in my Malay blog, kunakians, on Jun 25, 2009.

Current first graders will be fourth graders by the time this latest strategy come to effect in 2012. In the meantime, science and mathematics teachers shall be teaching in bi-language.

We, parents ought to look into the schedule for the implementation of the strategy and help prepare our children so that they are eagerly ready to take up the lessons in their own mother tongue when the day comes.

I prepare the timetable below to help me track which classes my children will attend within the next ten years. I hope it somehow can also give some assistance to fellow Malaysian parents out there.