Joint Statement Made by Dong Zong and Jiao Zong

July 17, 2019

Dong Zong Objects to the Reactivation of Using English in Math and

 Science Teaching

Same Error Commitment is Cautioned for the Pawn of Students’ Learning Right

The address delivered by the Prime Minister Tun Mahathir in the House of Commons (Lower House) informing that the government is studying the reactivation of the use of English in Math and Science teaching has rippled some doubts towards Dong Zong and Jiao Zong. Herewith Dong Jiao Zong forwards its firm stance as follows:

1. The results of Math and Science in Primary Six UPSR (2018) indicated that the percentages of the minimum pass were 15 and 96.12 respectively. Dong Jiao Zong reckons that it is the effectiveness of employing mother tongue as medium of instruction in vernacular schools. Nonetheless, for the sake of grasping the fundamentals of Math and Science, the government should further enhance the use of mother tongue in Math and Science Teaching for optimal learning results but not the use of English in the teaching as it forces primary students to learn Math and Science through English which is an additional language. It is attributed mainly to the fact that the primary students in general cannot master an additional language easily and this very reality weakens students’ performance in Math and Science, which seriously undermines the quality of national education.

2. The necessary provision of mother tongue education in any nation is the common understanding of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (henceforth UNESCO) and educationists worldwide. “Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025” likewise quoted UNESCO’s report stating the importance of mother tongue-based learning during the preschool period as it ensures effective preparation for bilingual or multilingual education. The citation shows the Ministry of Education realises this decisive factor. Inconceivably, the government intends to reactivate the use of English—which is not the mother tongue—in the teaching of Math and Science contradictorily. Dong Jiao Zong pleads the government to admit that mother tongue education is the most effective learning approach for elementary students and it has nothing to do with national pride but plays a critical role in the right to learn for students. The government should rather practise mother tongue education in compliance with education theory accordingly. It is evident that the Use of English in Math and Science Teaching Policy pushed hastily forward from 2003 to 2009 severely posed harmful consequences to the quality of national education. As such, the central government should not repeat the commitment.

3. We also believe that what our Prime Minister Tun Mahathir had claimed—new software of Intelligence Technology would be used in the said policy—was essentially incorrect as Intelligence Technology is merely a supplementary asset for education and it has no correlation with the use of language in Math and Science learning. As it was known, national funds were used for the purchase of educational aids in the implementation of the policy previously but consequently the effort did not pay off. At the end of the day, students’ proficiencies in English, Math and Science were not improved; worse still, there was an abuse of resource due to improper use of devices and equipments installed. In view of this, Dong Jiao Zong believes the government should rather enhance the use of mother tongue in Math and Science teaching and concurrently leverage Intelligence Technology for effective and optimal learning. It cannot be gainsaid that successful results are obtained and national development achieved through the preservative use of mother tongue learning in educational advanced nations such as Korea, Japan and Finland, etc.

4. Dong Jiao Zong reckons that the success of additional language learning differs from one individual to another and therefore not everyone can be well-versed in three languages as anticipated. In national education, the learning of other subjects should not be hindered by students’ language proficiency. National education caters for all and hence it should meet the needs of the students. English is not the mother tongue of most of the different ethnic groups and the government should not sacrifice the learning right of the majority at the expense of minority elites. If the Use of English in Math and Science Teaching policy were to be implemented mandatorily, the limited education resource provided by the Ministry of Education and schools would be focused on the prodigies, and it would consequently accelerate educational inequality and be baneful to low achieving learners.

5. Dong Jiao Zong reiterates, its objective stance towards the Use of English in Math and Science Teaching Policy cannot be translated as denying the importance of English as the lingua franca as well as the register for technology. It is simply that the use of English in such teaching does not comply with educational theory and is known to be an inappropriate approach; it not only weakens students’ level of Math and Science in the national education but also pawns students’ learning right which essentially poses harm to the nation. We agree that students’ proficiency of English should be enhanced and it appears to be imminent but to reach such goal, we should refer to language acquisition principles, viz., to begin with elements like teaching objectives, curriculum, lesson duration, learning materials, pedagogy, teaching force and facilities among others for a holistic and successful learning.

6. Last but not the least, Dong Jiao Zong pleads the government to abandon sentiments and persistence, and eventually push educational reform forward based on research findings and data analysis documented globally. All and all, Dong Jiao Zong insists on mother tongue education and is strongly against the reactivation of the Use of English in Math and Science Teaching Policy.

Joint Statement Made by Dong Zong and Jiao Zong

June 24, 2019

Calling for Transparent Policy Implementation

Prompt Release of Policy Research Report Expected

It was informed by the Minister of Education Dr. Maszlee that the education policy committee report had been submitted to the Prime Minister early this week. Dong Jiao Zong urges the Ministry of Education to release the report simultaneously with the submission to uphold the right to know, thus to be examined and discussed by the general public.

Dong Jiao Zong had submitted a proposal to the committee this end of February to reflect the education of Malaysia from pre-school to higher learning, including the challenges faced by mother tongue education and it later forwarded a countermeasure hopefully the government would look into and ruminate. We Dong Jiao Zong, and many other associations and organisations, who together submitted the proposal are unsure if the recommendation had been mooted and documented in the report. If it was denied, we would wish to know the criteria of the decision. We understand that the committee had received 3,378 proposals from relevant organisations and individuals. The contents of this report are undoubtedly a compilation of wisdom from various stakeholders and the report is de facto the property of the general public. As such, the Ministry of Education bears the duty and responsibility to make the report known explicitly thus addressing public confusion.

We believe, the recommendation of this education policy report will inform the future policies of the country. As it ensues subsequent impact to the nation, the Pakatan Harapan government has the obligation to implement measures in transparency and practise accountable politics, respect democratic participation and defy black box culture, as well as taking the initiative to release the contents of the report as soon as possible since it is necessary.

Joint Statement Made by Dong Zong and Jiao Zong

June 20, 2019

The news reports in media stating that a certain number of project assessment reports posted to national-type Chinese primary schools Grade 1 to 3 students are merely in Bahasa Melayu indeed had cast some shadows of doubt among parents. Dong Zong and Jiao Zong are deeply concerned about the matter and herewith forward their stance proper:

1. Dong Jiao Zong understands through feedbacks from national-type Chinese primary schools in all states that the project assessment reports provided by the Ministry of Education to Grade 1 to 3 students are printed in Bahasa Melayu unanimously and the Ministry of Education has never informed national-type Chinese and Tamil primary schools the availability of other versions. Due to the inherence that the medium of instruction and administration language of national-type Chinese primary schools is in Chinese Mandarin and has since become a norm, some national-type Chinese primary schools believe the said report by right should be in Chinese. In the face of this, they resorted to computer agency, among others, to prepare additional version bilingually or in Chinese while others ‘modified’ the assessment report provided by the Ministry of Education such that teachers could enter additional comments in Chinese. Further, a part of the national-type Chinese primary school teachers explained in Chinese to parents about their children’s learning based on the Bahasa Melayu version.
2. This incongruence indicates that the Ministry of Education—as what it has been practicing all these years—ignores the existence of vernacular education and implements education measures solely within unitary mindset. Dong Jiao Zong is deeply disturbed by this practice and believes if there is no room for review, it will pose harm to the uniqueness of national-type Chinese primary schools using Chinese as the medium of instruction.
3. Dong Jiao Zong posits that the Ministry of Education should take the existence of other stream schools seriously and acknowledge their needs are different attributed to their medium of instruction. Take national-type Chinese primary schools for instance, apart from using Chinese as the language of instruction as well as in examinations, the school administration is operating in Chinese Mandarin daily. As such, the announcements released by the schools on a daily basis, including academic transcripts, by all means must be in Chinese and in compliance with their unique characteristic. This act of providing merely Bahasa Melayu version in project assessment reports does not meet the expectation of the stakeholders and thus confuses parents as it not only generates barrier in content understanding but also keeps the parents out of reach of their children’s learning progress. Worse still, it will consequently undermine the nature of national-type Chinese primary schools.
4. Based on the principle that vernacular schools are currently using their own mother tongue as the medium of instruction, Dong Jiao Zong urges the Ministry of Education to provide different versions of project assessment report to the said schools, take for example, in national-type Chinese primary schools the report should be bilingual both in Chinese and Bahasa Melayu and this is thought to be the correct and necessary approach to comply with national-type Chinese primary schools’ characteristics. Due to the seriousness of the matter, Dong Jiao Zong urges the Deputy Minister of Education, Ms Teo Nie Ching, to see to it and take prompt response to relieve public qualms.

Joint Statement Made by Dong Zong and Jiao Zong

June 20, 2019

The news reports in media stating that a certain number of project assessment reports posted to national-type Chinese primary schools Grade 1 to 3 students are merely in Bahasa Melayu indeed had cast some shadows of doubt among parents. Dong Zong and Jiao Zong are deeply concerned about the matter and herewith forward their stance proper:

1. Dong Jiao Zong understands through feedbacks from national-type Chinese primary schools in all states that the project assessment reports provided by the Ministry of Education to Grade 1 to 3 students are printed in Bahasa Melayu unanimously and the Ministry of Education has never informed national-type Chinese and Tamil primary schools the availability of other versions. Due to the inherence that the medium of instruction and administration language of national-type Chinese primary schools is in Chinese Mandarin and has since become a norm, some national-type Chinese primary schools believe the said report by right should be in Chinese. In the face of this, they resorted to computer agency, among others, to prepare additional version bilingually or in Chinese while others ‘modified’ the assessment report provided by the Ministry of Education such that teachers could enter additional comments in Chinese. Further, a part of the national-type Chinese primary school teachers explained in Chinese to parents about their children’s learning based on the Bahasa Melayu version.

2. This incongruence indicates that the Ministry of Education—as what it has been practicing all these years—ignores the existence of vernacular education and implements education measures solely within unitary mindset. Dong Jiao Zong is deeply disturbed by this practice and believes if there is no room for review, it will pose harm to the uniqueness of national-type Chinese primary schools using Chinese as the medium of instruction.

3. Dong Jiao Zong posits that the Ministry of Education should take the existence of other stream schools seriously and acknowledge their needs are different attributed to their medium of instruction. Take national-type Chinese primary schools for instance, apart from using Chinese as the language of instruction as well as in examinations, the school administration is operating in Chinese Mandarin daily. As such, the announcements released by the schools on a daily basis, including academic transcripts, by all means must be in Chinese and in compliance with their unique characteristic. This act of providing merely Bahasa Melayu version in project assessment reports does not meet the expectation of the stakeholders and thus confuses parents as it not only generates barrier in content understanding but also keeps the parents out of reach of their children’s learning progress. Worse still, it will consequently undermine the nature of national-type Chinese primary schools.

4. Based on the principle that vernacular schools are currently using their own mother tongue as the medium of instruction, Dong Jiao Zong urges the Ministry of Education to provide different versions of project assessment report to the said schools, take for example, in national-type Chinese primary schools the report should be bilingual both in Chinese and Bahasa Melayu and this is thought to be the correct and necessary approach to comply with national-type Chinese primary schools’ characteristics. Due to the seriousness of the matter, Dong Jiao Zong urges the Deputy Minister of Education, Ms Teo Nie Ching, to see to it and take prompt response to relieve public qualms.