By P Ramasamy
A few months back, Idris Jusoh, Education Minister II, said the Malaysian system of education was on par with that of other developed countries.
Very recently, P Kamalanathan, deputy minister of education, in an address to students, said Malaysians had a higher proficiency in English than their Singapore counterparts.
He further claimed that among the 65 countries in which English was not a native language, Malaysia ranked first.
Is it true that the Malaysian education system is on par with those of developed countries? Is it true that our standard of English is better than that of Singaporeans, a country where English is far widely spoken and which receives official recognition?
I will be the first person to jump for joy if Malaysia had a world-class education system where the level of spoken and written English was high.
In fact, Malaysians are awaiting the day when not just ministers but Opposition leaders act in unison to proclaim the greatness of the Malaysian education system where English is given the priority and importance it deserves as the language of science and technology.
However, that day will not come anytime soon.
The reality remains however that our education system is wanting.
Government ministers such as Idris Jusoh are well known for using selective facts to boast about our educational system. I am not sure whether he really understands what plagues the system and why our fresh university graduates cannot even write or speak the language well.
Kamalanathan on the other hand may boast about Malaysia’s standard of English, but little does he realise many locals have an atrocious command of the language.
There are many international and regional English proficiency-testing methods, including the Swedish-based English Proficiency (EP) Education First (EF) that we can choose from to gauge our standard of English. However selective reading of the EF results is not conclusive in establishing the superiority of Malaysia over Singapore when it comes to the standard of English.
Moving away from these isolated tests and procedures, no sane person would ever argue that the Malaysian education system is on the road to success. Far from it.
The education system right from the days of independence to the present is based more on language policies rather than epistemological concerns of education.
The political struggle associated with making Bahasa Melayu the official language and the fervour on the part of the non-Malays not to forsake their mother tongue has take a toll on the maturation of English language teaching.
Nationalistic pursuits, lack of proper educational planning and lack of good leaders has prevented Malaysia from taking the lead in English language education.
We are in a tragic situation today. The teaching of the English language has become the victim of nationalistic politics. Its utilitarian value has been sacrificed because of the outcome of the ballot boxes.
What is unbecoming of government ministers is the fact that they refuse to acknowledge that our education system seriously needs repair.
Given their instincts only for political survival in a system that only rewards extreme forms of political loyalty, nothing can be expected to be done to revamp and re-establish a sound education system.
Our command of the English language will continue to slide simply because it is narrowly conceived as a tool. Politically it lacks the glamour of the Malay or other non-Malay languages to receive political support.
In other words, in Malaysia, the whole educational system can be declared a mess, more so the teaching of the English language.
P Ramasamy is Deputy Chief Minister II of Penang.
With a firm belief in freedom of expression and without prejudice, FMT tries its best to share reliable content from third parties. Such articles are strictly the writer’s personal opinion. FMT does not necessarily endorse the views or opinions given by any third party content provider.