Revive English-medium schools Email Facebook REVIVE ENGLISH-MEDIUM SCHOOL. WHAT IS YOUR SAY ON THIS? I’M in total agreement with the view that the Government should allow Malaysians the choice of either placing their children in a Bahasa Malaysia or English-medium school (Sunday Star, Aug 11). I believe that during their formative years in primary school, they should master language skills in Bahasa and English. Once they master the languages, they can easily pick up art and science subjects. I find that children who do well in languages have a better chance of doing well at tertiary level and beyond. I sent my three children to a national primary school, a rare case in Kepong, Kuala Lumpur, where more than 90% of the families send their children to vernacular schools. My children get to mix with other races which in a way helped them overcome racism and narrow-mindedness. I am against vernacular schools; it is a breeding ground for churning out unskilled workers as many of them do badly in the secondary years and drop out after Form Three. MCA was reported in the The Star as saying that 40% of the students from Chinese schools are dropouts. They suffered cultural shock at the secondary level; many turned rebellious and lost interest in their studies. I speak as an ex-PTA (parent-teacher association) committee member and I observed that those who gave the most problems to the school were from vernacular schools. Many end up in low paying jobs which is later displaced by cheaper foreign workers and ultimately add to our current social problems. My daughter received a scholarship to study in Singapore from Secondary Three to A-Levels. We noticed a big difference in the depth of the teaching between our two countries. Of late, I have been telling some friends that the way to circumvent this RM1mil issue “Million ringgit schooling (Sunday Star, Aug 11) cost of international schooling is to move south to Johor Baru. Work or do business there and send their children to Singapore for their education. They have some of the best universities in the region. When I was young, many of the Asean students came to Penang to do their secondary education before their parents sent them to the West. I believe that with the revival of English-medium schools, it would happen again. That is one way of retaining talent. If these students have a good memory of their childhood days in Malaysia, they will want to return. That motivation is more powerful than financial rewards.
Posted on: Tue, 17 Sep 2013 08:35:22 +0000
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