Parents group to hold rally to show support for PPSMI

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PETALING JAYA: A pro-PPSMI (teaching and learning of science and mathematics in English) group will hold a rally on March 10 at Dataran PJ, to show their serious stand in wanting the government to reinstate the policy.

Concerned Parents Selangor (CPS) group coordinator Shamsudin Hamid said between 5,000 and 10,000 parents would attend the Parents for PPSMI (P4P) Rally at 10am, while such rallies would also be held simultaneously in Penang, Ipoh and Sabah.

“The purpose is to state our support for PPSMI. We are urging the government to reinstate the policy.

“This does not mean that we don’t respect the national language. But please look at the bigger picture, which is the future of our children,” he told reporters, here, yesterday.

The PPSMI has been abolished beginning this year and replaced with the Memartabatkan Bahasa Malaysia dan Memperkukuhkan Bahasa Inggeris (MBMMBI) policy.

However, schools which have started the PPSMI are allowed to continue with it until the students complete their Form 5 education.

Shamsuddin said the group also wanted the prime minister to intervene, and engage parents and education experts in discussions in formulating the national education policy.

He said education experts should be appointed in the government.

“We believe that our education system needs a total transformation in the mould of the ETP (Economic Transformation Programme) and GTP (Government Transformation Programme).

“We are confident that the prime minister in his conviction and commitment to engage the people, will consider providing
the right solutions towards fulfilling the parents’ wish of retaining the PPSMI policy.”

He said there were “hundreds of thousands” of parents in the country who supported the PPSMI, and urged the Education Ministry to reveal the findings that showed more schools were now opting for MBMMBI.

He also said that before this, parents had sent thousands of appeal letters to the ministry to retain the PPSMI, but to no avail. — Bernama