THERE is intense debate, nailbiting and speculation about the teaching of Science and Mathematics in English.

Until and unless our politicians, education policymakers and others who act as advisers to the government on educational issues realise that what they decree as political dogma today affects generations in the years to come, there is no point in continuing.

In my opinion, the rot set in three decades ago.

In our desire to push ahead, students were fast-tracked through courses that held no interest and were probably unsuitable for them. They were persuaded to complete these courses anyway, to fill some official quota or statistic.

Thus, institutions of higher learning began mass-producing teachers and lecturers who were not qualified to teach, let alone be the ones to guide our current generation of students.

I have observed “English” teachers who cannot string words logically together. Their command of the language is poor. Moreover, as teachers, they fail abysmally, as they do not and cannot inspire and motivate, nor are they able to discipline their charges.

So who can blame our current crop of students if they are unable to comprehend or show any interest in these two subjects? It is no wonder that these same students also seem passive and unassertive. In essence, they are bored.

I consider it pointless tr ying to appease everyone by dictating that these subjects be taught in both English and Bahasa Malaysia. No one benefits and it is a waste of useful resources. In the end, it is the students who suffer most.

I have also ascertained that it is not only the quality of our teachers, or rather their ability to teach in English, that is bad.

We also have to look at the schooling environment. Are our laboratories and teaching methods of any merit? Are our textbooks clear, legible and interesting? Do these teaching aids help inspire? Are they creative enough to stimulate in young minds the desire to know more about these subjects? At the higher levels of learning, are students able to keep up with the information from the wider academic world? Most journals and papers on scientific and mathematical matters are in English.

Change is good but in this context, the switch from English to Bahasa Malaysia in the blink of an eye may spell disaster for us. Students (and teachers) will be confused. Our education system will end up in tatters. Companies that used to look to Malaysia to recruit English-speaking graduates will look elsewhere, for example, India.

Might I add that education is a matter of being aware, of exploring in our minds what the world has to offer, exposing ourselves to other ideas, good or bad, and making rational and logical deductions and c o n c l u s i o n s.

Education is the ability to challenge ideas, even if they contradict our own, and to be able to change for the better. If we as adults feel threatened by debate and then strive to shut these people up, then we are doing ourselves and these students a disservice.

If we feel that to exclude Bahasa Malaysia is being anti- Malaysian, then we are indeed being short-sighted and are denying our students a future in the global world. So, we can make a start when our education policymakers are brave enough to adopt changes for an education that is worthy and beneficial to for thcoming generations.