Malaysia drops English language teaching

It's been a while since I've read any newspapers, be it UK and Malaysian papers. But one headlines from my iGoogle Newsfeed caught my eye today:

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Malaysia drops English language teaching

Government says education policy failing to create global speakers

From The Guardian - http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jul/10/malaysia-tefl

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It seems the Government's decision to revert to teaching Maths and Science in Malay again had gotten quite a huge media coverage.

I don't really understand what the fuss is all about. Frankly, I support the decision to revert if the teachers are not well-versed to teach in English. The objective of learning science and maths is that exactly - to learn to be able to do maths and understand the scientific concept. If you want the kids to learn English, then strengthen the English subject instead. Mathematics and Science are a language on its own, hence their concept do not change if you teach them using BM or English or Japanese or Arabic, etc. Look at Japan, the fastest developed nation in the world, did they obtained their technological advancement because they were taught maths and science in English? Heck no, in fact, they can barely speak any English. Yet they continue to dominate the technological world and even force other people to speak Japanese in order to deal and learn from them.

So, let's focus on the main objective - to teach the students Maths and Science. and get them to excel in them. Hence, teach them in the language that the teacher can be most effective in teaching them and in the language the student can grasp the knowledge well.