Idocs Guide to HTML PERCENTAGES SHOW OUTCOME OF PARENTS' VOTES IN FAVOUR OF PPSMI / SK/SMK(SMI) Idocs Guide to HTML 1MALAYSIA, RAKYAT DIDAHULUKAN, PENCAPAIAN DIUTAMAKAN (1MALAYSIA, PEOPLE FIRST, PERFORMANCE NOW) Idocs Guide to HTML SK/SMK(SMI) - SEKOLAH 1MALAYSIA Idocs Guide to HTML AKTA PENDIDIKAN 1996: .."murid harus dididik mengikut hasrat ibu bapa".. Idocs Guide to HTML SEEK EXEMPTION TO MAINTAIN THE LEARNING OF MATH AND SCIENCE IN ENGLISH Idocs Guide to HTML CADANGAN JENIS SEKOLAH BARU: SK/SMK(SMI) SAINS & MATEMATIK DALAM BAHASA INGGERIS Idocs Guide to HTML PARENTS, EXERCISE YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS THROUGH YOUR PTA! Idocs Guide to HTML PAGE ASSISTS SCHOOLS IN SABAH, SARAWAK, PULAU PINANG, MELAKA, PERAK, SELANGOR, NEGERI SEMBILAN & KUALA LUMPUR Idocs Guide to HTML
Idocs Guide to HTML PARTICIPATING SCHOOLS Idocs Guide to HTML Kuala Lumpur: SK Bukit Damansara - 97%; SK Seri Hartamas - 98%; SMK Seri Hartamas - 97% Idocs Guide to HTML Selangor: SK Taman Megah - 97%; SK Assunta 1 - 96%; SK Assunta 2 - 96%; SMK (P) Sri Aman - 94%; SMK Taman SEA - 98%; SK Bandar Sri Damansara 1 - 68% Idocs Guide to HTML Perak: SK (P) Methodist Ipoh - 85% Idocs Guide to HTML Pulau Pinang: SMK St Xavier's Institution - 94%Idocs Guide to HTML Melaka (Jointly endorsed by all 13 YDPs): SMK St Francis; SMK Gajah Berang; SMK Tinggi St David; SMK Canossa Convent; SMK Infant Jesus Convent; SM Catholic; SMJK Tinggi Cina; SM Yok Bin; SMK Tun Tuah; SM Pulau Sebang; Sekolah Tinggi Methodist Melaka; SMK (P) Methodist Melaka ; SK St Francis Idocs Guide to HTML

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

PPSMI: It's the language of knowledge

2009/11/18

I REFER to the letter "PPSMI: Ministry must stick by decision" (NST, Nov 13) from Sa'ari Hasan of Ayer Keroh, Malacca.

The teaching and learning of science and mathematics in English (PPSMI) was never about learning English through science and math but about learning the knowledge of science and math through English.

Does the writer not understand by his own admission that in the early period of the Abbasid dynasty both Muslim and non-Muslim scholars sought to gather and translate all the knowledge of the world then into Arabic? And it was 75 years later before they achieved greatness in the philosophical and scientific fields. The Europeans mastered Arabic and came to Arab lands to seek knowledge. And likewise, most of the knowledge in Arabic was translated into Latin, English and French before the Renaissance.

We cannot depend on the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) to translate even a tenth of one percent of all the current knowledge in the world into Bahasa Malaysia. They even failed to translate our foreign technical assembly-line manuals into Bahasa. The DBP has failed us in the industrial era. And they failed us again in the information era when they were unable to produce a practical online kamus for our children to use.

The language of knowledge in mathematics and science today is, first and foremost, English, followed by Mandarin, French, German, Japanese, Korean, etc, but not Bahasa Malaysia. To emulate scholars of the Abbasid dynasty and the Europeans prior to Renaissance, we have to master at least one of the above languages to gain access to this knowledge. And as knowledge grows very much faster now than in the old days, we cannot depend on translators but instead seek knowledge from its primary source ourselves.

The decision to abolish PPSMI is akin to asking us not to don Western attire but to keep using our sarong for daily activities to maintain our Malay identity, hoping one day it will become a universal dress code for the world.

The survival of a nation is dependent not on its language but by the knowledge held by its people. Why was "The House of Wisdom" in Baghdad, created a thousand years ago, so easily destroyed together with its people and entire nation in just a few years? Let us learn from this and seek knowledge even in the language of our "enemies". It appears that the "small acorn" may have been a "bad seed" after all.

Incidentally, the PAGE survey was conducted throughout the country via the parent-teacher associations of schools. Parents who were supportive of PPSMI not only came from the urban areas but also suburban and rural, including Keningau, Penampang and Tawau (Sabah), Long Lama (Sarawak), Kodiang (Kedah), Bukit Baru (Malacca), Tampin (Negri Sembilan), Beserah, Kuala Lipis and Jengka (Pahang), Kuala Kangsar (Perak), Bukit Keteri (Perlis), Bukit Mertajam (Penang), Tampoi (Johor), Jeli and Pengkalan Chepa (Kelantan).

PAGE is only asking for options for parents to decide what they feel is best for their children. Those who reject PPSMI do so at their own peril.

PAGE Chairperson

UNTUK ANAK-ANAK MALAYSIA
FOR OUR CHILDREN

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

PAGE Response to NST Letter to Editor

28 October 2009

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to explain our cause and surveys conducted at the respective schools (Education: That PPSMI survey is not good enough 2009/10/27).

The Parent Action Group for Education (PAGE) sent a memorandum to the Prime Minister on behalf of schools that desire to be given the option to maintain the Teaching and Learning of Science and Mathematics in English (PPSMI) and a proposal for these schools to be re-categorised as SK/SMK (SMI).

The Prime Minister had said on 13 July 2009 that the government is open-minded about the proposal for some schools to be allowed to continue with PPSMI because the government respects the voice of the people. It was also in line with the government call for People First, Performance Now. Parents are people and many schools have performed with PPSMI.

Since the decision to abolish PPSMI was made on 8 July 2009 and in spite of the offer from the Minister of Education on 9 August 2009 for PTAs to send its memorandum to him, principals have been instructed to prohibit PTAs to convene EGMs to discuss this issue, which we see as an injustice to parents as well as teachers.

The Education Act 1996 allows “parents and teachers to exchange ideas on educational matters”. The Education Act further “requires the government to take into consideration the wishes of parents in wanting to educate their children as long as its expenditure involved is not excessive”. It goes on to say that the “primary objective of education is to gain knowledge having to keep abreast with the effects of the fast-paced development of science, technology and information”.

Had the PTAs been allowed to convene EGMs, the voting process would have been more accurate and reliable, and more schools would have successfully carried out their EGMs without any dissention from any party.

Consequently, parents of these seven schools either conducted voting on this matter via distributing voting slips through the students for their parents or parents were given voting slips as they came to pick their children from school.

We, too, would like more schools to convene EGMs but PTAs have now become afraid of its consequences. We have written several times to meet with the Minister of Education and seek his wisdom but no avail. We wish to assure that our actions were not hurried but instead thought through thoroughly.

In addition, the Federal Constitution of Malaysia states that “the national language shall be the Malay language provided that no person shall be prohibited or prevented from using, teaching or learning, any other language”. With regards to PPSMI, the national language, Malay, we stress yet again, not only remains the prime medium of instruction in national schools but also continues to maintain a majority number of subject hours at primary level (59%) and secondary level (53%) including the science stream.

PPSMI is not a question of language but the gaining of knowledge in science and mathematics in its ‘lingua franca’ which is English. Unfortunately, we cannot yet compare ourselves to France, Germany and Japan as they are the creators of technology from a hundred years ago and we are but merely consequential users and assemblers of it. We are also a young and small population lacking the expertise to translate specialized scientific and mathematical terms.

We are now no more in the industrial age but instead in the era of information and technology where vast knowledge (99%) in science and mathematics is found in English on the internet.

The future generation cannot just rely on only Malay, Mandarin or Tamil in this global day and age. We need to equip ourselves with more than just that, much more.

Lastly, parents look forward to the day when education is no more politicised.

PAGE MALAYSIA

UNTUK ANAK-ANAK MALAYSIA
FOR OUR CHILDREN

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

SK Assunta 1&2 re-instated as feeder schools to SMK Assunta

Parents of SK Assunta 1 and 2 were shocked when offer letters to register their year 6 daughters into SMK Assunta were not to be. Only 43 of 148 of SK1 and 17 of 139 of SK2 girls were offered into SMK Assunta, what was traditionally over the last 51 years, a 100% automatic transfer.

The Selangor education department denied knowledge and urged parents to enquire with the district education office. Reasons provided were found to be unacceptable causing the parents to stage a protest outside the school on Monday.

NTV7 aired the protest followed by reports in NST and vernacular dailies today. Within 12 hours of airing, the district education office had re-instated feeder school status to SK1 and 2 and announced that new letters of offer would be sent out immediately.

Recently, parents of SK1 and 2 had convened separate EGMs to take a vote on PPSMI. A resounding 96% wanted PPSMI to be retained.

Parents should exercise their rights. Syabas, Assunta!

UNTUK ANAK-ANAK MALAYSIA
FOR OUR CHILDREN

Friday, November 6, 2009

PAGE appeals to education minister

The Edge Financial Daily
Friday, 06 November 2009 00:18


KUALA LUMPUR: A group of parents calling themselves the Parent Action Group for Education (PAGE) has appealed to the education minister to give national schools the option of maintaining the teaching of science and maths in English (PPSMI).

In a statement yesterday, PAGE chairperson Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim said a PAGE survey conducted in 2008 among parents throughout Malaysia showed 95% support for PPSMI to be continued.

“Tun Mahathir in his blog polled 84% against the government decision to abolish PPSMI. Even the ministry of education’s own telephone hotline survey showed over 90% of callers wanted PPSMI to be continued,” she said.

Noor Azimah said recently parents from seven schools in Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya, which were able to do surveys and EGMs, returned a majority of 94% to 98% of parents wanting PPSMI.

She said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, in his blog, had explicitly rejected the idea of the single stream school because the rakyat was not ready for it. Noor Azimah questioned if the rakyat was ready or accepted the abolition of PPSMI in national schools.

“We sincerely thank our Prime Minister for respecting the spirit of the Education Act 1996 which calls for children to be educated according to the wishes of their parents.

“We hope our minister of education is able to emulate our honourable Prime Minister in respecting and honouring the wishes of parents by giving our national schools the option to choose or reject PPSMI. Parents wait for the education minister’s decision to appreciate 1Malaysia, People First,” she said.

Noor Azimah called on the ministry to let parents voice their wishes through parent-teacher association EGMs or AGMs. “Then we, the rakyat, will truly appreciate our prime minister’s call for 1Malaysia, People First,” she added.

UNTUK ANAK-ANAK MALAYSIA
FOR OUR CHILDREN

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Support PPSMI / SK/SMK(SMI): Respond to PM by Friday

Dear Parents and Children Who Support PPSMI,

Our Prime Minister who champions 1Malaysia, People First, Performance Now, has explicitly put aside the idea of a single stream school because the rakyat is not ready for it.

He also acknowledges that the education system for Malaysia is politicised.

He wrote, "Over the years and at almost in every instance, the issue of the ideal education system for Malaysia is politicised. As the Prime Minister for all Malaysians, I view that all of us must find equilibrium. Let us all be reminded that at the end of the day, the crux of the issue is ensuring that our future generations, our future leaders, are able to obtain the best education system. We must make that leap into a knowledge- and innovation-based economy."

He is also seeking response/discussion on his blog on the issue of education.He will be chairing a Special Cabinet Meeting on Friday, so please respond to his blog (link below).

Remember, your first sentence is the most important sentence. Start positively with what you want:

1 SK/SMK(SMI) Sains dan Matematik dalam Bahasa Inggeris; OR
2 Continue PPSMI in our school.

Do not forget to ask each and every child to respond too. We must respond before Friday. Let him hear the voice of the rakyat on this.
Please forward this email to as many pro-PPSMI parents as possible.

Best Regards
PAGE Malaysia

Najib blog: http://www.1malaysia.com.my/index.php?option=com_myblog&show=single-stream-schools.html&Itemid=54&lang=en#readmore

UNTUK ANAK-ANAK MALAYSIA
FOR OUR CHILDREN

Monday, November 2, 2009

96% of Parents Want SK/SMK (SMI)

On Saturday, 31 October 2009, SK Assunta 1, Petaling Jaya, conducted an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) to vote on SK/SMK (SMI). An astounding 96.3% of the parents who attended wanted to maintain PPSMI in their school.

Earlier, SMK St Xavier's Institution, Penang, convened its EGM and an astonishing 94% of parents want PPSMI to remain.

What is your school doing about it? Time is ticking fast.

UNTUK ANAK-ANAK MALAYSIA
FOR OUR CHILDREN