The former prime minister said he conducted the poll to gauge the people's sentiment on the issue.
"If there is no other way to publish the poll results, at least through my blog, hopefully government officials would read it," the former premier said yesterday.
Here's the NST report:
Dr M: 80% of poll respondents oppose PPSMI abolishment
2009/07/10
KUALA LUMPUR: About 80 per cent of 26,000 poll respondents of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed’s blog does not support the teaching of Science and Mathematics in Bahasa Malaysia.The former prime minister said he conducted the poll to gauge the people's sentiment on the abolishment the Teaching of Science and Mathematics in English (PPSMI), reverting it to Bahasa Malaysia and vernacular languages in phases starting 2012.
"If there is no other way to publish the poll results, at least through my blog, hopefully government officials would read it," he told reporters after delivering a keynote address at the Royal Institution and the Malays in the Federal Constitution from the 1Malaysia Perspective Discourse here today.
Asked what was wrong with abolishing the PPSMI, he said it was introduced to enable students to acquire knowledge as most of it was churned out in English.
"It is not about trying to learn English or Malay... it is simply an acknowledgement that today knowledge comes to us in English language.
"Today the knowledge is with the people who write in English and for that reason we want to learn English to acquire knowledge, not to learn English as Science has got a special English language for itself.
"That is why it is important that we use English in order to study Science and Mathematics," he added.
On his meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Dr Mahathir said he appreciated it as the latter briefed him on the PPSMI issue although he was not informed of the decision.
Dr Mahathir said he did not expect the government to consult him whenever they want to change any policies adopted by them.
Meanwhile, the Federal Territories Council of Former Elected Representatives (Mubarak) hoped the controversy surrounding the PPSMI would end with the government's decision.
Its secretary, Datuk Abdul Rahman Sulaiman, said FT Mubarak supported the government's decision and welcome a plan to enhance English learning by increasing the duration of English lessons for all levels of schooling and upgrade English teachers competency.
7 comments:
I get p*ssed off when opponents of PPSMI argue that "you can't improve English proficiency by teaching Maths and Science in English".
This argument is flawed, not because it is incorrect, but simply because that is not the premise on which the PPSMI was introduced.
PPSMI was introduced not to improve the students' command of English, but to ease the process of learning, understanding and acquiring knowledge in Science and Mathematics.
~ arakaaw
Adakah pengundian secara online ini mencerminkan pendapat rakyat Malaysia keselurhannya?
Mereka yang menyertai poll ini tentunya disertai oleh golongan yqng computer literate dan datang daripada yang berpendapatan tengah.
Pada pendapat saya bilangan ini tidak mencerminkan keseluruhan suara rakyat Malaysia,
Abang Mat
Bagaimana pula dengan kajian yang dibuat oleh PAGE namun diketepikan?
Dan poll diblog NOBISHA agak sengit diantara pro PPSMI dan anti PPSMI
Nobisha is also conducting a poll on this decision at his blog. The latest figures are 52% NO, 47% YES. This means 52% are against the decision so far. Although the results are much closer than those of Tun Mahathir's poll, they still show that more people prefer English.
The government seems to stand firm on its decision, while bloggers who support the decision are celebrating and showering praises on our leaders. But has the government ever conducted such a poll, through, for example, the blogs of our leaders or leaders of component parties? Not that I know of. There was a call for a referendum by a few bloggers but the government remained silent. Wouldn't such a poll or referendum be far more reflective of the people's voice? It would no doubt be costly, but since the issue affects the future of our children, the benefits would definitely outweigh the cost.
Abang Mat: Jika anda berpendapat begitu, adakah kajian yang dijalankan oleh kerajaan sendiri - yang menjadi asas bagi keputusan memansuhkan PPSMI - mencermin keseluruhan suara rakyat Malaysia?
Juga, mana anda tahu golongan celik komputer yang menyertai poll datang dari yang berpendapatan tengah? Adakah anda bermaksud orang berpendapatan rendah tidak celik komputer? Bagaimana pula dengan orang kampung? Adakah duduk di kampung bermakna penduduknya tidak ada peluang atau tidak mampu menggunakan komputer?
Detguaq,
Dalam poll Nobisha, hanya 310 orang saja yang mengundi. Ini jauh berbeza dengan poll Tun Mahathir di mana 65,011 telah mengundi.
310 orang tidak mencukupi sebagai saiz sampel untuk poll ini. Poll Mahathir adalah lebih tepat.
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