R. Nadeswaran
LET there be no mistake. Malay or Bahasa Malaysia is the national language. It will continue to be the medium of instruction in our schools notwithstanding the existence of Chinese and Tamil schools. The Education Ministry has made attempts, albeit feeble ones, to improve the proficiency of the English Language by introducing the “Upholding the Malay Language and Strengthening the Command of English” policy, but its results leave much to be desired.
Every attempt to make the younger generation competent in the universal language of English has been thwarted by self-proclaimed defenders of culture, heritage and language.
Mereka inilah yang kononnya memperjuangkan budaya, warisan dan bahasa, tapi disebalik itu mereka jugalah yang membuat penguasaan Bahasa Inggeris sebahagian besar pelajar Melayu jadi hancur. Akhirnya bukan sahaja Bahasa Inggeris mereka hancur, Bahasa Melayu juga turut lebur. Bak kata pepatah “yang dikejar tak dapat, yang dikendong berciciran”.
There is overwhelming evidence of a lack of basic skills such as reading and writing in English. Last week, the Dewan Negara was told that about 76,200 graduates are unemployed because they do not possess job hunting skills and are too dependent on others to convey information on job opportunities.
This reflects the situation. If you can’t prepare a decent CV for a job application, it’s bound to end in failure. On the net, there are hundreds if not thousands of tips, advice and even samples of CVs. Yet, our graduates are unable to use such information. Not because they do not have IT skills but because they do not understand the language. About four years ago, I was shown a job application from two graduates of a local university. They had attached two photographs, two CVs and sent in a “joint application”!
We have students in Form Four who can’t write a simple sentence in English without grammar or spelling mistakes. They have not been given a good grounding in the language to take them forward when they leave school or university.
Tepat sekali…setelah 3 bulan menamatkan pengajian dalam bidang kejuruteraan, dan setelah menghantar berpuluh permohonan, tapi satu pun tak ada jawapan, akhirnya terbuka juga mulut bertanya pada anak “Boleh abah tengok surat permohonan?”
Setelah membaca surat dan resume anak, admin terfikir bagaimana siswa zaman ini boleh lulus peperiksaan M.U.E.T. !!! Mungkinkah soalannya semudah soalan hari pertama admin memijakkan kaki di Remove Class dekad 50an “What is your name”, “How old are you”, “Where do you live?”
Kalau tidak, bagaimana pembuka ayat surat permohonan kerja pemegang ijazah BSc 2nd class upper boleh berbunyi “I am graduated from University…” (Ayat itu masih lekat di kepala seorang bapa yang hanya memperolehi P7 dalam kertas Bahasa Inggeris peperiksaan Senior Cambridge dekad 60an, dibanding dengan anak yang mendapat A2 dalam peperiksaan kertas Bahasa Inggeris Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia!)
Therefore, the announcement by Deputy Education Minister Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong that the introduction of English-medium schools in addition to national-type Chinese, Tamil and religious schools has to be discussed in depth is indeed welcome.
The question previously asked in this column was: If Chinese and Tamil schools can exist, why not English schools? This rather obvious question was met with typical official replies of “we are studying the matter”.
However, Wee’s answer in the Dewan Negara last week that stakeholders will be consulted is good news indeed. The government has finally realised that policies cannot be shoved down people’s throats without seeking their views and explaining the issues to them.
But then, the next question is: Who are the stakeholders? Definitely, they cannot be confined to some high-nosed politicians wearing blinkers who see the existence of English schools as a “threat to the national language”.
The biggest stakeholders are people like you and me – parents – who want to be a given a choice.
I belong to a generation which studied eight subjects in English and one in Malay which was called Bahasa Kebangsaan. A pass in the latter was compulsory for the Malaysia Certificate of Education and a pass in the former necessary for the Senior Cambridge Certificate.
In our time, for Geography, we used books by G. E. D. Lewis. In primary school, we learnt about Ah Chong the gardener, Awang the fisherman, Ramasamy the dock worker and so on.
During history lessons in primary school, we learnt about the great religious leaders – Prophet Muhammad, Gautama Buddha, Jesus Christ etc. We learnt about great nationalists – Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Sun Yat Sen, Mahatma Gandhi etc. We also learnt about the explorers – Francis Drake, Magellan, Christopher Columbus etc. All these gave us an understanding of the world around us and the events that helped shape the future.
It was not just that we learnt history, but we acquired knowledge. These days, what we learn and the knowledge we acquire is dictated by a few who have adopted the “we know best” policy. When the syllabus was changed, there was no consultation whatsoever and the powers-that-be decided what we need to know and what we need not.
The education system has been changed, tinkered and messed around without consultation. This time around, there is reason to believe that the ministry will take views into account and perhaps publish a Consultation Paper before a decision is made either way. But do not expect change overnight or for that matter, in a few years. The whole process may take longer than that.
First, there is the issue of finding teachers who are proficient in English, and let us not fall back and say “getting foreign teachers is too expensive”. If at all there are plans for English medium schools, let us start training the teachers for such a change. I remember my teachers having spent two years at teacher training colleges before their posting.
That was at a time when English was the medium of instruction in schools and trainee teachers themselves were proficient in the language.
We now have a generation of school leavers, for the majority of whom, English seems to be a problem. Hence, it may take one year to get them to just brush up their language skills before the training proper starts. So let’s not use these issues as excuses for not setting up English-medium schools.
Then there’s the issue of textbooks and syllabus. The Malaysian pride would not allow us to use or even emulate textbooks that Singaporeans use. The “face saving” issue will come into play. But all said, let’s grit our teeth and accept the fact that the system, the syllabuses and textbooks used across the Causeway are superior ones.
As parents, we must be given a choice. Closing our eyes and ears and being oblivious to the ever-changing world would be disastrous to the future generation. For the sake of the kids, let’s give this proposal a thorough look.
