Assessment of students and teachers opinion on the withdrawal of PPSMI: secondary schools in Tuaran / Nur Atikah Md Tarip and Ahmad Fuad Anis

Teaching of Mathematics and Science (ETeMS) or better known by its Malay acronym, PPSMI of which the brainchild of the former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir was introduced in 2003. The policy was implemented in order to change the medium of instruction of the teachings of Mathematics and Science from Bahasa Malaysia to English and the implementation was carried out by stages starting in 2003. However, in July 2009 the Minister of Education Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced the withdrawal of the policy and it was replaced by the Upholding the Bahasa Malaysia and Strengthening the English language policy of which was implemented by stages starting in 2012 aiming to use Bahasa Malaysia as the medium of instruction in teaching Mathematics and Science and at the same time improving the English language proficiency of the students. Since its implementation in 2003 PPSMI policy has been a debatable issue and charged with a lot of different sentiments, both good and bad. And now with the reverting of the policy, certainly affects those who are involved in the implementation of the policy especially students and teachers. Hence, this study was conducted to assess the opinion of the students and teachers who are directly involved and experiencing the ever changing policies. A sample of 300 students and 24 Science and Mathematics teachers of secondary schools in Tuaran are chosen as the respondents. Majority of the respondents agreed on the government decision to replace PPSMI to MBMMBI. Surprisingly, the opinion of the respondents shows no correlation with the residence of the respondents. Although there are claims stated PPSMI was victimizing the students from rural area. The students and teachers' opinion on the withdrawal of PPSMI correlated with the students' performances and teachers' competency.