Govt taking steps to inculcate interest by revising learning system, curriculum
THE government will find suitable measures, including the possibility of revising the curriculum and learning system, to arrest the slipping interest among students to study Science in schools.
Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the issue of declining interest in Science had been raised in the cabinet as the problem would have adverse impact to the national interests in the long-term.
"The prime minister has expressed his concern over the matter," he said when addressing about 2,000 teachers during a programme called "Enhancing the Teaching Profession" at Kompleks Yayasan Kemiskinan in Kelantan, near here yesterday.
Muhyiddin, who is also education minister, said students had low interest in Science as they found the subject difficult to master especially when Mathematics and Science had been taught in English before.
He said the ministry had also observed a drop in grades scored by students in Mathematics and Science subjects in national examinations.
"That is why I have changed the policy to teach the two subjects in Bahasa Malaysia instead of English."
He said from a study conducted by the ministry, it was shown that students with problems mastering English would also have difficulty in doing well in Mathematics and Science.
He said if the decline was not checked, there would be adverse effects to national development when there was insufficient expertise in science and technology.
At a press conference later, Muhyiddin said the ministry would examine the matter thoroughly and formulate a suitable plan to develop the interest of students in Science.
"At the ministry's level, we have to scrutinise the situation and find out the cause for the decline in interest in Science and how to resolve the problem."
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