Now out of power, Dr M fears for plan to teach Maths and Science in English

KUALA LUMPUR, March 12 — Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin is not in favour of the policy to teach Mathematics and Science in English, said Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who expressed concern that his proposal will now be aborted.

The former prime minister told Sinar Harian in an interview that the policy was among those he hoped Muhyiddin’s Perikatan Nasional would not undo now that it has taken over the government.

He asserted that the new PM preferred that the two subjects are taught in Bahasa Melayu as they are now, but said this would be disadvantageous to Malaysian students when they must eventually compete on a global scale.

“Mathematics and Science are not like Geography or History as the latter two are immutable. Science and Mathematics evolve daily.

“Every day there are new applications and discoveries. If the two are taught in BM, then Malays won’t be able to understand the papers regarding these applications, such as digitisation, artificial intelligence and so on,” he said in the interview.

He said even if Malaysia were to depend solely on translations, those doing the translation must still be proficient in English as well as the subject matters.

Dr Mahathir repeated his warning that Malaysia would fall further behind the rest of the world if it continues to refuse to embrace English in its education.

He also went on to distinguish his push for English in local education from his nationalist bent.

“It isn’t that I don’t love my language. I was a language champion before many today were born. In 1946, 1946 I was already championing the language but I prioritise knowledge. If we lag in terms of knowledge, we will regress.

“We are already regressing,” he said.

Dr Mahathir announced his plan to revive the policy of teaching Science and Mathematics in English at the end of January, after he assumed the Education portfolio following Maszlee Malik’s resignation.

However, he resigned as the prime minister a month later and before the policy was put in place.

The policy for teaching Science and Mathematics in English (PPSMI) was among Dr Mahathir’s final policies before he left office as the fourth prime minister.

It was pioneered in 2003 to mixed reactions before being eventually implemented at all stages of the national school system in 2007.

However, it was dismantled by the previous Barisan Nasional administration in 2012, coincidentally by Muhyiddin who was the education minister and Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s deputy at the time.