KUCHING: Education, Science and Technological Research Minister Datuk Seri Michael Manyin’s “gasak ajak” (muddle through) statement on the teaching of Science and Mathematics in primary schools next year has elicited varied reactions from the public.
For example, Cats FM executive producer Muhammad Al Nazirul Nazmi was of the opinion that teachers who do not know the Queen’s English should have proper training first because using “Manglish” (Malaysian English) or “Saralish” (Sarawak English) would affect the students subliminally.
“How would they learn English formally in the future? I believe they need a lot of proper learning even though they only teach Maths and Science,” he said.
“In teaching the young, we need a proper standard operating procedure. The quality of teaching and learning would be compromised if teachers are allowed to use whatever little command of English they have.
“How can we raise Malaysia to a higher level without proper teaching? I do not want my future children to speak any sort of pidgin English.
“I say teachers who are not proficient in English must be trained properly. The Ministry of Education should only pick qualified teachers, and also retired teachers who have the qualifications,” he said.
Joanna, who works as a sales and administration employee in an interior design company, said, “While it could be considered a fault that we have been lagging behind with our English language proficiency, it is a fault that we can only look at in hindsight.
“But to say ‘gasak ajak’ feels a lot like a cop out. It’s easy to say ‘it’s okay as long as you try’ until you remember that the future of our new generation is on the line. If the teachers are unqualified to teach in the language, then the students would pick the mistakes up and carry them forward.
“They might even think that not bothering to gain proficiency in the English language is all right, because their teachers are doing it. Why shouldn’t they?
She further said that understandably, not everyone uses the Queen’s English in everyday life. Some may never need to know it at all but considering it is the lingua franca of the world at the moment, it seems remiss to not at the very least teach the new generation to master basic proficiency so they can navigate the world better as like most things you learn faster the earlier you do it. It seems extremely negligent to only half-heartedly teach young, impressionable children. It sets a bad precedent.
Of course, there’s no easy solution to this problem but at the same time, just gunning for it and “finding mistakes along the way” seems naive at best and fruitless at worst.
“Who will be checking the teachers’ English proficiency while they teach? Will they have people there to observe and correct the teachers so that they may one day speak the “pure Queen’s English”?
“Teachers must be given intensive training, and perhaps given English tests a few times a year just to ensure that they retain or improve their proficiency. In summary, the intention behind the idea is a good one, but the methods of execution could use more than a few brushes of improvement,” she said.
On the other hand, Limkokwing Institue of Creative Technology (LICT) Mass Communication final year student, Luqman Hakim, who also agrees with Manyin’s statement said, “Some teachers may not be as fluent in English as others but they have to work with what they have.
“Like what Manyin said, just do it. It’s a learning process for the teachers and their students. Gradually but surely their speaking skills will improve. As long as the students understand what the teachers teach them that is sufficient for now.”
Ultimately, he believed that the teachers must be trained so that their students won’t be adversely affected in the long run. Training can be done in batches. Luqman does not think it wise to recruit retired teachers. Instead, younger teachers ought to be pushed to improve themselves and be better educators.
LICT Mass Communication final year student, Alexius Khung, said, “It is generally better that we speak the Queen’s English. If we learn Sarawak English before learning British English, it will be a hassle and a waste of time.
“I do not see the bad side of learning the Queen’s English. It can save us from any miscommunication with outsiders and it is useful when going abroad.”
Alexius believes that learning English would not affect education in any major way because the public are already familiar with the Queen’s English. So why bother with Sarawak English first and later learn the Queen’s English?
“I think it will help students in the long run because many of them are currently studying in the UK and Australia, and both countries are using the Queen’s English.
“I don’t think that using the Queen’s English will compromise the quality of education as we are using a centuries old language that dates back to the Anglo-Saxon times.
“In addition to that, we should definitely qualify and recruit teachers who are proficient in the Queen’s English and retired teachers who have used the language,” he said.
Lee Shaw Wei, who is also an LICT Mass Communication final year student said, “I neither agree nor disagree to the minister’s statement as we have to start somewhere. I am not sure about the number of teachers who are actually proficient in Queen’s English, so I think it would not really affect the education system.
“All of us have been through it before in terms of learning from teachers who are not proficient in English. Whether or not students will be affected in the long run is up to their attitude. Even if you put an English teacher who is proficient in English to teach a student who does not bother to learn, it would not work.”
Lee further argued that the quality of teaching could be compromised at first, but the teachers definitely have to be trained and the education authority should select only qualified teachers in the future after a proper training system has been implemented. As of now we have to make use of what we have.
“Recruiting retired teachers is an option. However, how many of them are willing to come back? Some might just want to enjoy their retirement,” he said.
Joel Kyle, who is a student of Creative Technology at Limkokwing University, said, “When I was younger, I lived in a house that spoke mixed languages. My dad primarily speaks in English while my mum talks to us in Melanau. We usually respond in English but we still had a good grasp of the Melanau language.
“My dad always actively encouraged us to learn Melanau, but he always stressed the importance of the English language as speaking it would give us a lot of opportunities in the world.”
He noted that there is a need to educate children in any way possible but there needs to be a standard so that they can be on par with people of countries.
“The authorities should not take half measures in educating our future leaders as doing so would only degrade the quality of our education.”
