PUTRAJAYA, July 8 — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad expressed disappointment with the government’s decision to scrap his policy of teaching mathematics and science in English, saying it will affect future generations.
He said his recommendations were not taken into consideration when deputy prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who is also Education Minister, met him over the policy first introduced in 2003.
“I was only briefed about it, so after the briefing I gave my suggestions, I said even if it could not be implemented at primary level, at least at secondary level it should be maintained, so it was not a consultation only briefing,” Dr Mahathir told reporters here.
“I am saddened because the future of our children will be affected. They will be the victims,” he added.
Dr Mahathir said failure to get the teachers to teach the two subjects in English should not be used as an excuse to scrap the policy.
“The government’s responsibility is to train the teachers, the problems cannot be solved overnight, because this is important for our future, we have to face the challenges, I am confident our teachers can learn English,” he said.
On the government’s plan to train more English teachers Dr Mahathir said the same should also be done to science and mathematics teachers.
“It is a good move, but if they can train English teachers, they should also be able to train science and mathematics teachers,” said Dr Mahathir.
Earlier at a press conference to announce the scrapping of teaching mathematics and science in English policy, Muhyiddin said he and officials from Education Ministry had informed Dr Mahathir of the decision and the former prime minister had accepted the government’s views.
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