M. Bakri Musa
The ancient Chinese bound the feet of their baby daughters so they would
grow up with deformed tiny feet, thus limiting their mobility and
participation in life outside the little world of their homes. These
women would then be totally dependent on their men.
In rescinding the policy of teaching science and mathematics
in English, the government is likewise binding the intellectual
development of our children. They and future generations of Malaysians
would grow up with warped intellect. They would then be totally
dependent on the government, just as ancient Chinese women with tiny feet
were on their men.
My friend and fellow commentator Azly Rahman has a more apt
and colorful local metaphor; we are condemning future generations to the
Pekan Rabu economy, capable only of selling pirated versions of Michael
Jackson albums. That would be the extent of their entrepreneurial
prowess and creative flair. They are only subsistence entrepreneurs and
'copy cat' creators.
Make no mistake about it. The government's professed concerns
for the poor and those from rural areas notwithstanding, reversing the
current policy would adversely and disproportionately impact them. The
rich and those in the cities have a ready escape; the rich through
private English classes, urban children from the already high levels of
English in their community.
The most disadvantaged will be the poor kampong kids. That
means Malay children. Thus we have the supreme irony if not perversity
of the champions of Ketuanan Melayu actively pursuing a policy that would
ensure Malay children be perpetually trapped economically and
intellectually. I thank Allah that I grew up at a time when the likes of
Muhyyuddin were not in charge of our education system. Otherwise I would
have been trapped in my kampong.
The idiocy of the new move is best illustrated by this one
startling example. In 2012 when the new plan will be implemented,
students in Form IV will be taught science and mathematics in Malay,
after learning the two subjects in English for the past nine years. Then
two years later when they will be entering Sixth Form or the Matriculation
stream, they will again have to revert to English.
Pupils in the vernacular schools would have it worse. They
would learn the two subjects in their mother tongue during their primary
school years, then switch to Malay for the next five while in secondary
school, and then switch again, this time to English, in Sixth Form and
university!
Had these policymakers done their homework and diligent
downstream analysis, such idiocies would not crop up. Then again this is
what we would expect from our civil servants. They have been brought up
with their minds bound up; they cannot think. They have depended on
others to do the thinking for them.
Najib Razak's flip-flopping on this major national issue
eerily reminds me of similar indecisiveness and lack of resolve of his
immediate predecessor, Abdullah Badawi. No wonder he supports Najib in
this policy shift. Najib should not take comfort in that, unless he
expects a similar fate as Abdullah's. Abdullah was kicked out by his
party; with Najib, it would be the voters who would be kicking him out.
Public sentiments are definitely against this policy switch.
Failure of Policy Versus Failure of Implementation
The cabinet reversed course because it deemed the policy did not produce
the desired results. However, in arriving at this pivotal decision the
cabinet failed to address the fundamental question on whether the
original policy was flawed or its implementation ineffective.
It just assumed the policy to be flawed. Muhyyuddin and his
senior officers relied heavily on the 2005 UNESCO Report which suggests
that "'mother tongue first' bilingual education" may (my emphasis) be the
solution to the dilemma of members of minority linguistic groups in
acquiring knowledge.
Muhyyuddin and his advisers seriously misread the Report. It
was concerned primarily with the dilemma at the societal level of members
of a linguistic minority having to learn the language of the majority
("national language") versus the need to maintain linguistic diversity
generally and minority languages specifically. UNESCO was rightly
concerned with the rapid disappearance of languages spoken by small
minority groups. The report was not addressing specifically the learning
of science and mathematics.
Malay language is not at risk of disappearing; it is the
native tongue of literally hundreds of millions. To extrapolate the
UNESCO recommendations for Malay language is a gross oversimplification
and misreading of the report.
The UNESCO Report does not address the issue of when and how
best to introduce children to bilingual education. Later studies that
focused specifically on the pedagogical and psychological aspects instead
of the sociological and political have shown that children are quite
capable of learning multiple languages at the same time. Even more
remarkable is that the earlier they are exposed to a second language the
more facile they would be with that language. They would also learn that
second language much faster; hence second language even at preschool.
The acquisition of bilingual ability at an early age confers
other significant cognitive advantages. These have been documented by
clinical studies with functional MRIs (imaging studies of the brain).
<?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Malaysia should learn from
these more modern studies and the experiences of more advanced societies,
not from the UNESCO studies of backward tribes of Asia.
The other basis for the cabinet's decision was 'research' by
local half-baked and politically-oriented pseudo academics. They should
be embarrassed to append their names to such a sophomoric paper. The
quality is such that it will never appear in reputable journals. As for
the Ministry's own internal 'researchers,' remember that they came out
within months of the policy's introduction in 2003 documenting the
'impressive' improvements in students' achievements!
The one major entity that would be severely impacted by the
cabinet's decision is our universities. Yet our Vice-Chancellors have
remained quiet and detached in this important national debate. They have
not advised the cabinet nor lead the public discussions. Again that
reflects the caliber of leadership of our major institutions.
Had the cabinet decided that the policy was essentially sound
but that the flaws were with its implementations, then measures other
than rescinding it would be the appropriate response. This would include
recruiting and training more English-speaking teachers and devoting more
hours to the subject.
What surprised me is that when Mahathir introduced the policy
in 2003, he was supported by his cabinet that included Najib, Muhyyuddin,
Hishamuddin, and over a dozen of current ministers who now collectively
voted to reverse the policy. Likewise, the policy was fully endorsed too
by UMNO's Supreme Council then. Like the cabinet, many of those earlier
members are still in that body today. Yet today the Council also voted
to disband the policy. Muhyyuddin, Hishamuddin and the others have yet
to share with us why they changed their minds. The conditions that
prompted the introduction of the policy back then are still present
today. This reversal will do not change that.
Najib, Muhyyuddin and Hishamuddin are "lallang leaders," they
bend with the slightest wind change. Unlike Margaret Thatcher's famed
resolve of "This lady is not for turning," with Najib, Muhyyuddin, et
al., all you have to do to make them undertake a U turn would be to blow
slightly in their faces. Blow a bit harder and they would scoot off with
their tails between their legs. These leaders will never lead us forward.
This reversal will not solve the widening achievement gap
between urban and rural students. The cabinet has yet to put forth new
ideas on ameliorating that problem. So, just as ancient Chinese women
were physically handicapped because of their bound feet, rural or more
specifically Malay children will continue to be intellectually
handicapped by their warped and small minds, the consequence of this
policy shift. Perhaps that is the real objective of this policy
reversal, the shackling of the intellectual development of our young so
they will forever be dependent on their 'leaders.'
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