The cabinet has yet to make a decision on the teaching of Science and Mathematics in English, said Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
At a conference today, the acting education minister said he hopes to implement the policy soon after the matter is decided by the cabinet.
Mahathir said a committee will be set up for this purpose.
Asked if this is a revival of the previous Teaching and Learning of Science and Mathematics in English (PPSMI) programme in 2003, he said this is not known yet.
Mahathir added that the current Dual Language Programme (DLP) failed to gain positive results as the students were given a choice to study both subjects in either their mother tongue or English.
When asked if the government will engage stakeholders such as educationist groups, he said such a process would take up to five years to complete.
Mahathir stressed that the policy must be implemented in schools as soon as possible.
"The public is welcomed to give their opinions. They can write to the government, the press also can write a long article condemning me, it is all right.
"We are used to having people who disagreed with us," he said.
Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Karim had previously said the premier should have consulted the cabinet or the Pakatan Harapan presidential council before announcing the policy.
At today's press conference, Mahathir said he was merely explaining the policy to the education officer on Jan 30 but that had been leaked out.
Mahathir said the nation will be left behind particularly in relevant fields if the people are unable to master the language of knowledge.
It is important to learn English as new terms are being invented on an almost daily basis, he said.
Mahathir also noted how people had the tendency to blame the supernatural for a strange phenomenon, including sickness, before the existence of science.
Earlier, Mahathir urged the people to place the progress of their ethnicities over the use of their mother tongue.
"I am a Malay. I love my race and Bahasa Melayu. But we should give consideration to the progress of the ethnicities instead of the use of mother tongue languages," he said when addressing over 1,000 at Majlis Amanat & Aspirasi held at Putrajaya.
The event is for Mahathir to brief the officers about the education policies.
At the event, Mahathir also emphasised the importance of vision schools, a policy which was also introduced during his first stint as premier.
The multi-stream education system did not help the people to interact with other races at a young age and as a result, came the vision schools, he said.
Speaking with the media later, Mahathir said he intended to implement vision schools nationwide.
He said the vision school policy will be easier to implement at new schools and schools which are willing to shift their campus.
He, however, noted that there are people who decline to mix at all.
"They want to be exclusive. They think that their children should not mix with other races because this might spoil them," added Mahathir.
On Jan 31, the premier said he wanted Science and Mathematics to be taught in English, and this has drawn flak.
[More to follow]
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