The Teaching and Learning of Science and Mathematics in English (PPSMI) programme, implemented during the era of former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, was a failure, Dewan Bahasa and Pustaka (DBP) said.DBP Board of Directors chairperson Awang Sariyan (above) said the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government has made the right decision to not reimplement the PPSMI."The Education Ministry, under the then minister Muhyiddin Yassin, had in 2011 halted PPSMI after numerous researches into the programme done by education and language institutions, universities, associations and individuals highlighted the mistakes and failures of the programme."All researches showed that PPSMI failed to meet its objective to increase the students' English proficiency skill as well as their performance in Science and Mathematics subjects," Awang said in a statement released today.Education Minister Mohd Radzi Md Jidin said in a <a href="https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/534641" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">parliamentary reply</a> two days ago that the government currently has no plan to reintroduce the PPSMI.He said this in a written reply to Selayang MP William Leong Jee Ken.In his question, Leong asked the minister to state reasons to bring back PPSMI and what the improvements to the programme would be.Awang said that while the then government had spent more than RM5 billion to implement the programme, its achievement was only around three percent."It had caused a decline in the students' performances in the English, Science and Mathematics subjects."Their performances in international exams in regard to Science and Mathematics significantly dropped after the implementation of PPSMI," he said.Awang went on to call upon the Education Ministry to review the Dual Language Programme as it had created a polarisation among students, whereby a number of students learn the science and mathematics in English, and the others in Bahasa Malaysia.He said DBP has formed a task force, led by education expert Isahak Haron, to study a practical step to improve the learning of Bahasa Malaysia, English and Islam subjects.

The Perikatan Nasional government made the right decision to not reimplement this programme, it adds

DBP: Teaching of Science and Mathematics in English was a failure

~RM12

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DBP: Teaching of Science and Mathematics in English was a failure

~RM12

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