Latest education issue. You need to pass your English paper, to pass your SPM.
What do I think??
Well… here’s a good thought…..
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YIPPIEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!
*Jumping jovially*
Honestly, I’m not ignorant that some people fare badly at English, and if you count those from the rural areas, I am not in anyway trying to discriminate them, but I do see things in a positive way.
By pushing the importance of English (making it compulsory to pass English to pass SPM), future Malaysians stand to fare better internationally, hence making it possible for us to be more competitive. And for the students in the rural areas? Well, it’s time for them to start learning more than those dirty words found on TV, isn’t it?
And what about our national language, BM? I’m sorry to say this new move will more or less signal the ‘goodbye’ for BM. Although BM would always remain important to communicate among Malaysians, but I have to agree that shall English become a must pass in SPM, BM would loose huge ground. Even worst than it is currently experiencing under the PPSMI (Teaching of Mathematics and Science in English) project. I had my say on PPSMI here.
How about implementation? I hugely feel that the government should start from the basics. Move slowly from those in primary school, and bring them up to secondary school. This means that the first ‘must pass English paper’ exam should be in 2021, and not earlier. The benchmark of the success of its implementation should not be done before 2030, and all calls to re-look into the policy should be ignored totally.
I’m sure you have no problem understanding why I suggested 2021 for the full policy implementation, but 2030 to see the policy success? Maybe you have reservations, because I am talking about over 20 years here. My justification goes like this; A student will only realize whether the whole education system they have gone through is worthwhile once they are already working, or have completed the whole system, or in other words, they are already utilizing their knowledge.
My personal experience says that the system I went through (learning Science and Maths in BM) sucks, because I felt the hardship of getting used to all those technical and scientific terms when I left school to further my studies, and nowadays.. I do see that English proficiency is dwindling because less emphasis is placed on such an important language. So yes, I agree with Tun Mahathir… Don’t Forsake English and Ruin Children’s Future.
Btw, I updated my simple movie review on Paul Blart Mall Cop and Terminator Salvation.