KUCHING: Sarawak Patriots Association (SPA) fully supports the Sarawak government’s decision to implement the teaching of Mathematics and Sciences subjects in English, for Primary one starting next year.
Its chairman Datuk John Lau Pang Heng said many reference books are written in English and when Sarawakians are fluent in English, they can read more to gain more knowledge to absorb the truth of life.
“In a recent survey conducted by SPA on 6,000 respondents, 93.1 per cent supported the use of English as a medium of instruction in Sarawak schools and 94.5 per cent supported the use of English for the teaching of Mathematics and Science subjects,” he said in a press statement, yesterday.
He added that the people’s voice has been heard by the State government.
“At a press conference, Education, Science and Technology Research Minister Datuk Seri Michael Manyin Jawong said that graduates are unable to get employment in the private sector because many in the private sector were using English for business communication.
“SPA is hopeful that with the implementation of teaching of Maths and Science in English, the issue of graduates working in private companies can be solved,” Lau said.
SPA is also confident that Sarawak will have enough teachers to teach Maths and Science in English.
“I also call upon detractors not to derail the Sarawak government’s efforts to encourage Sarawakians to be multilingual. Singapore is a great example of excellence in education and Singaporeans are multilingual. Previously, the people in China can hardly communicate in English but now we can see that many young Chinese there speak fluent English,” he pointed out.
Lau added that when Sarawakians are fluent in English, they can compete globally because education is the premise of progress in every society and in very family.
“As Martin Luther King said, ‘Education is to teach one to think intensively and critically. Intelligence plus character is the goal of true education’,” he said.
To SPA’s understanding, he said a majority of international business communication is using English with the exception of some in other major international languages like Mandarin and French.
SPA also congratulates the government for maintaining the teaching of Maths and Science subjects using Mandarin for Chinese medium primary schools.
“We congratulate the state government because it listens to the voices of the people of the ground. That’s the type of government Sarawakians would like to see in the coming years,” he said.
SPA also calls upon every Sarawakian to work with the government to propel Sarawak to the next level of educational excellence.
