Nation suffers from English neglect

IT's been at least 40 years now that our nation has sidelined English in the education system and the outcomes of this neglect are all so clear for everyone to see and feel.
Broken English used in translations to Bahasa Malaysia texts, even on invitation cards at official functions, has become the butt of jokes on social media these days while the majority of university graduates struggle with the language, even at the stage of job interviews.
It breeds the so-called unemployed graduates phenomena in the nation but strictly speaking, the more correct phrase to describe the situation is "unemployable graduates".
All things being equal in the skills and knowledge that our graduates aqcuire during their years of study, it's the soft skill in communication that employers are looking for before hiring them and proficiency in English is certainly a passport to higher paying jobs.
But don't get me wrong, I'm not blaming the graduates. Far from it. They are just a product of the system and if the system needs fixing it has to be done. It's something that past policy-makers had put in place but no man-made policies should be carved in stone for a nation to progess.
And if changes and adjustments are necessary for the sake of the nation, then people will be much better off by doing so.
English was the language of the masses during the generation that I and people of my generation, and those earlier, grew up with but has since become the language of the elite.
In more ways that one, this is also reflected in the plunging circulation of English-language newspapers in the country, some of which are reportedly struggling to make ends meet.
The number of people proficient in the language is dwindling very fast as the older generation fades away and this should indeed be a cause for concern as Malaysia seeks to become a high-income nation in a highly competitive world out there. We can no longer use quick or ad-hoc measures to fix the problem. It has to be
tackled at the grassroots like in the good old days.
In this light, it's hightly stimulating to read comments made by a Cabinet minister about English last week and he deserves credit because although everyone knows the importance of English, it's one issue our Members of Parliament or other ministers love to avoid talking about.
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan revealed that he had presented a proposal to re-establish English medium schools in Sabah to the top leadership both in the federal and state levels.
And it came with the good news that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak, very much a product of the English-medium school system himself, is very supportive of the idea.
It's indeed a very, very long overdue idea that is always being side-stepped and sidelined for the sake of political expediency and for which Malaysians at large are suffering from the English deficiency syndrome.
Rahman said he had seen such an idea being debated inside and outside of
Parliament but the government could not decide on it as there was strong resistence from certain quarters in Peninsular Malaysia despite knowing that English is a very important language in order to progress.
To me, there's considerable hypocrisy from among those resisting such an idea because many of them achieved high positions in life due to their command of English, too.
"We should not be penalised for some concerns by our fellow Malaysians in the Peninsula. I believe we can show the whole country that if Sabah can do it, I can guarantee you the support from the people of Sabah will be so overwheming that other states will probably decide to follow suit," he said.
You are spot on, Minister.
Which parents, and the students themselves especially, would refuse to be given the right kind of learning tools and environment to master English?
I know Rahman and he is a fighter and when he said and I quote: "As far as I'm concerned as the minister in charge of the Economic Planning Unit, I want this to be implemented in the whole country," I have little doubt that he can make a difference so that we can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
As he put it: "It is time. We have to make this difficult decision. It's not an option
anymore, it is a must that we must be proficent in
English".
The late Sarawak Chief Minister, Tan Sri Adenan Satem, was a strong advocate of English being a product of the English language education era and like I mentioned earlier, when English was actually the language of the masses in the state. Several times in his speeches when making reference to the issue, he was characteristically blunt, even describing the policy to neglect English in the education system as "stupid".
But checking the deteriorating standard of English among the majority of Malaysians is easier said than done although it must be done. The fundamental problem lies in the pool of English language teachers that we have in the system. Because our teachers are sourced from the system that has Bahasa Malaysia as the medium of instruction, English is rocket science to most and this is the root cause.
The then education minister II and now Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh said in 2014 that about two-thirds of English languge teachers in the country have been classified as "incapable" or "unfit" to teach the subject in schools.
At the time when he revealed this statistic, one veteran English language lecturer described it as "shocking" but I'm not at all shocked because I know it and because my five children went through such teachers, as most other parents do.
How do we expect them to be proficient English teachers when they themselves did not have grounding in the language?
This is in fact the key reason why the government had to abandon mid-way through, the much-touted policy to teach science and mathematics in English some years ago after spending so much money on it. It must have been "traumatic" for teachers who are "unfit" in English in the first place to be assigned to teach the difficult subjects of science and maths.
One way in my opinion to implement Rahman's noble proposal is to set up training colleges just for the sole purpose of producing English language teachers .
Plenty of retired and proficient English teachers of the earlier generation who are still physically fit would love to pay back to society by becoming tutors and lecturers in such colleges as well as recruiting from among the younger generation who have a knack for the language.
We can attract graduates who are talented in English by offering higher salaries than teachers of other subjects and the issue of pay discrimination does not arise here. English teachers are in high demand internationally. Let's not flip-flop anymore on this. And no more lip service, please.
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