'English is the language of technology, and Malaysia's education system must reflect that'
SHAH ALAM - In an era of rapid technological advancement, Malaysia's education system must adopt English as the medium for technological fluency, says Parent Action Group for Education (Page) chairman Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim.
She said that Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) were changing at a rapid pace and English is the language of technology.
She added that even Mandarin has not caught up and although 200 million people speak Bahasa Indonesia, it was still confined within Indonesia's borders.
"Incidentally, the official language of Asean is English.
"Our educators need to realise that STI is what will get our children better jobs.
"It needs to be conducted in the English language. Our educators need to engage with the Academy of Sciences Malaysia to be more conscious of the kind of foundation they need to be exposed to to be industry and future-ready," she told Sinar Daily recently.
Noor Azimah also emphasised the importance of teaching English alongside other languages, such as Bahasa Malaysia and Mandarin.
She said students should not be excessively fed with religion or national language contents.
"There should not be any fear that the national language will be relegated.
"Every Malaysian has a responsibility to uphold it. Nonetheless, when students only speak the national language, they are held captive to what is written in that mother tongue, largely religion and fiction," she said.
Noor Azimah acknowledged that the debate over English as a medium of instruction has been ongoing for many years.
She said that to get it off the ground, there would need to be serious funding to either educate students online or offline.
"The hardware and software purchased need proper maintenance and regular updates.
"There must be enough hands to ensure that the technology is working and that time is not wasted putting it together.
"Time is of the essence. When PPSMI was introduced in 2003, teachers were already seen as playing the role of facilitator to software provided, knowing full well the transitional challenges expected to be faced," she added.
Noor Azimah also said that national schools need to improve their quality to make them the parent's first choice for their children.
She said that there should be a review of the time spent on Science, Mathematics, English and Mandarin.
"If these can be raised, then more parents may reconsider enrolling their children in national schools.
"At the moment, national schools are schools of no choice. Until that level of quality is achieved, there will not be inclusivity, diversity, or equity in schools," she said.
