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The Star Online > Tuesday June 9, 2009
DPM: English not a ‘must pass’ for SPM?
KUALA LUMPUR: Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin is surprised to learn that English is not a “must pass” subject for SPM and wants public feedback on the matter.
The Education Minister said it was a revelation to him as he had always thought that it was a prerequisite since students had to learn English in school.He was also shocked to learn that national schools no longer taught English grammar.
“I don’t know how you can learn English without knowing grammar,” he told newsmen after launching the Kirkby College alumni association.Muhyiddin said students were now merely learning communicative English.“This means they are picking up the language for communication purposes only,” he said, adding that almost 70% of students who take English pass the subject.
The minister said he would seek public view on the matter.“We may deliberate on it at the ministry level but as Education Minister, I want to give the public a chance to share their views,” he said. (A pass in English has never been compulsory for SPM. Since 2000, a pass in Bahasa Malaysia was sufficient to get the SPM certificate. Previously, a credit was a must.)
Muhyiddin said he wondered if rural students would be at the losing end if a pass in English was required in SPM.He also said he did not know if not having to pass English meant the standard of the language had gone down
A retired lecturer and teacher trainer said the teaching of grammar was integrated into four main language skills – listening, speaking, reading and writing in English lessons for students.
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And so the debate on whether or not to make English a must pass subject in SPM commences.
And whilst even Dr M is on the side who is pro on the move, on June 10th, this report came around:
Many object to making English a ‘must pass’ SPM subject
PETALING JAYA: Most of the 500 views received by the Education Ministry as at the end of office hours yesterday are against any move to make English compulsory in order to obtain the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) certificate.
A ministry official said those who contacted the ministry wanted the status quo to remain.
“We started receiving telephone calls from 10am until 5.30pm yesterday,” she said.
From today, she said people could telephone the ministry’s hunting line at 
03-7723-7070
with their views from 8am to 5.30pm. “There are 27 lines and we have enough people manning them,” she said.People can also e-mail their views to kpkpm@moe.gov.my or send a fax to 03-7710-8880.
On Monday, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had said he was surprised to learn that English was not a “must pass” subject for SPM and wanted public feedback on the matter.
The Education Minister said it was a revelation to him as he had always thought that it was a prerequisite since students had to learn English in school.
A pass in English has never been compulsory for SPM. Since 2000, a pass in Bahasa Malaysia was sufficient to get the SPM certificate. Previously, a credit was a must.
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When I read the report, immediately my 'siren' went off. One, the title is very misleading. 500 (callers) is not exactly a significant amount. We have hundreds of thousands of students taking SPM every year, all of them have parents. Yet, only 500 called the Education Ministry, most to object to the idea. Now, if you sit back and think about it... would you even call the Ministry if you want to support the idea? Well, I supported it and I didn't think to call the Ministry to say that I do. The conversation would be so weird...
Anyways, amongst all the reports in the news, I found the stupidest opinion presented in the following form....Do you support the notion?
..Yes.
...Then why are you calling?
O_o
“If a student obtained As in all subjects except English, this means he failed his SPM. He would become a victim of the English Language colonisation,” he said.Makes sense, and patriotic but ... how often does a student with all As in all subjects fail English? SPM English isn't exactly tough. I know a person who got a 3B in SPM English but the person can't even write a proper email to a client. Now, that's Sad. By the way, Person said has 8 As to its name and yes, her English sucks but it's still a 3B (a strong credit) by current standards. So this statement seemingly makes sense but it actually doesn't,
So what is the problem? I think it boils down to whether we want to do it or not. As heard from a TV show I watched the other day, it is like going to the moon, we have to want to do it. Otherwise, let's just close all discussion and condemn the future generations to certain doom... I mean, forget about it.
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