SIBU: Teaching Science and Mathematics using mother tongue in primary schools will enable pupils to better absorb the subjects, opines Temenggong Dato Vincent Lau Lee Ming.
“This is just my personal opinion. For example, in Chinese primary schools, it has to be taught in Chinese (language); in Tamil primary schools – Tamil (language) and national schools – Bahasa Melayu (BM).
“We feel that as what has been mentioned by the United Nations, school children will absorb knowledge easier if it is taught in the language most familiar to them, where for example, for Chinese (primary) schools, it is the Chinese language. That is why I think we do not quite agree (that) DLP be implemented in primary schools – (but) this is my personal opinion.
“The government’s intention of introducing dual language programme (DLP) is hoping to raise the English standard, which I think we are not agreeable to. If we want to improve the English standard, you should look into how to teach students effectively in the English language rather than using English to teach Maths and Science to improve the English standard, which we believe will not achieve this sort of objective,” he told The Borneo Post when met after the Sarawak Australian Graduates Association (Saga) central region’s Annual General Meeting cum Fellowship Night 2019 here on Sunday.
“For national schools, where the medium of instruction is BM, most of the students are Malays. And if it is taught in their mother tongue, they will be able to absorb the knowledge better.
“That is why I think in primary schools, it should be taught in the mother tongue,” he reiterated.
Lau expressed this view when asked on Saga central region’s stand on the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Research’s move to implement the teaching of Science and Mathematics in English next year, starting with Primary One pupils.
To this, Lau said: “We have not discussed. My personal view is that if the government wants to implement DLP, we are not against it because if Maths and Science are taught in English, the materials are readily available. If taught in BM, a lot of the materials have to be translated.”
Meanwhile, Minister of Education, Science and Technological Research Dato Sri Michael Manyin Jawong had recently estimated that around 1,046 out of 1,265 primary schools throughout Sarawak would be undergoing this modified dual language programme following the Ministry of Education’s offer for Sarawak to be the first state to fully implement the teaching of the two subjects in English.
According to Manyin, a total of 2,657 teachers need to be trained to teach Science and Mathematics in English to Primary One pupils by next year, of which 1,005 teachers will be teaching Science in English, 1,275 for Mathematics and 377 for both subjects.