English Made Compulsory? … Not!

Whenever I see this issue being debated in the news, it reminds me of the Cha-Cha. The status of the English in the Malaysian education system appears to move exactly like the dance – backward, forward, shuffle, shuffle, nowhere. In case you don’t know what the Cha-Cha looks like, check it out in YouTube.

The deliberation on making English a compulsory paper to pass in the SPM, I fear, will remain just that – a deliberation. I wonder how many more years we have to keep shuffling on the spot like this.

On a blunter note, I think we have only moved backwards. The standard of English has gone from bad to worse over the years. Compare the difficulty of the examination questions in the current SPM English paper with that of my days at school, rightly dubbed the Cambridge years. They are a world of difference.

I am told that our standard of SPM English is even lower than junior high school English in Singapore. Why did this happen even though historically we gained exposure to the language first?

To put it simply, there are two factors: political motivation and goal setting, both set in the wrong directions.

Public feedbacks seem to suggest that a majority don’t just realize the importance of the English language. They however know the importance of having a good command of English.

I think the academic field is too much influenced by political flavour, so much so that it is compromised. If you can recall, one important person actually said that the standard of Bahasa Melayu will be lowered if English were to be made a compulsory paper. “Huh?” is all I can say to that.

There is also a fundamental flaw in the way goals are set. Majority can’t pass the paper? Okay, lower the passing mark. Still can’t pass? Okay, make the questions easier. Still cannot? Make them even easier.

If the English paper is made a compulsory paper to pass, students will make sure they pass by hook or by crook. The level of difficulty of the BM paper is actually way higher than that of English, but the majority of students still manage to pass. Why? Because it is compulsory!

Set aside the fear that rural students won’t be able to pass. If we want them to pass, then increase the number of hours for English lessons in school. Some parties voiced concern that the quality of English teachers is not good enough. This arises the question, “Why were they not trained properly in the first place?”

Part of the problem lies not in the training, but the way teachers are allocated subjects. There have been so many cases whereby teachers are forced to teach subjects which they are not strong in. Can we blame them then?

How is Malaysia going to become a truly progressive society when we argue over the simplest, most obvious choice to make? Someone needs to figure that out.