Chinese schools have the option to choose to teach Mathematics and Science in their mother tongue.
Education, Science and Technological Research Minister Datuk Seri Michael Manyin Jawong said this in a press conference in connection with his winding-up speech at State Legislative Assembly yesterday.
He said that in shifting to teach Mathematics and Science in English, the first and foremost task is to train teachers in the 1,265 schools in Sarawak.
“In order to implement this new policy, 891 primary schools in the state will start using English as the medium of instruction for Mathematics and Science.
“152 schools have already started using English as a medium of instruction for the subjects while 222 Chinese schools have indicated that they would not implement it for the time being,” he told reporters.
He said that in order to go for the implementation in primary schools, the teachers need to be proficient in English and the state needs around 3,000 of them to be trained. This is not easy.
Manyin then urged parents and community leaders to support this implementation to improve English proficiency among students in Sarawak.
“If we start implementing it this next year, our students will either be proficient or at least improve in the next six to seven years.
“Students can learn English for 40 minutes per period, so six periods for English class, six for Mathematics and three for Science means 15 English language periods in one week,” he explained.
As for the Chinese primary schools, they have indicated to the ministry to leave them alone for the time being to use Mandarin to teach Mathematics and Science, and then allow them to decide to ultimately decide whether or not to use English.
Local Housing and Government Minister Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian also said in a press conference yesterday that the chief minister had visited Chung Hua Middle School No. 1 which has reflected on the use of English to teach the two subjects.
“We are grateful that Chinese schools have the option to teach the two subjects in Mandarin. The rationale for it is very simple: Mathematics and Science are both technical subjects, and if students learn a new language to study them, it would be twice as difficult,” he said.
Dr Sim said that they definitely support efforts to raise English competency in Sarawak and they are proud that Sarawak has the only legislative body in Malaysia that allows students to learn Mathematics and Science in English.
“A way forward to teach English in Sarawak is to put more emphasis on the language and not on technical subjects.
“If Chinese schools do this, then I feel that their English will improve a lot in the near future,” he said.
