Malaysia in EF English Proficiency Index

 I was quite surprise to know that Malaysia actually did well in EF English Proficiency Index.

 Malaysia ranked as the 14th best out of 70 countries world-wide and second best in Asia. The top five spots were dominated by those Scandinavian countries and the only Asian country that stood ahead of us was Singapore (12/70).

  Two or three days ago, I created a poll via Twitter where I asked if the Malaysian government should bring back the policy of teaching and learning of science and mathematics in English or pengajaran dan pembelajaran Sains dan Matematik dalam Bahasa Inggeris (PPSMI).

 I don't want to say that the sampling was accurate but still the result showed that 90 percent out of 583 voters said yes. For me that was impressive.

 But again, I don't want to say it was accurate because there were a few variables to be considered. Such as the main language of my Twitter followers used, and their respective followers, gender, age, et cetera et cetera. But still, it is meaningless if nothing is to be done.

 We do not need to go far to see the effectiveness of the language. It sounds cliche but I do believe that we can learn a lot of Singapore. The only developed country in ASEAN region and it is just like a couple of miles away from Johor Bahru.

 In term of EF EPI ranking, Singapore is only a notch ahead of us. That's for me is awesome. We can catch em. But when we talk about Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), there is a lot, I mean a lot of things that need to be done by the government.

 "The mathematics and science proficiency among Malaysia's 15-year-olds is comparable to counterparts in poorer and less developed countries, according to a new study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

 The study, based on students' test scores in the two subjects, ranked Malaysia 52nd out of 76 countries, several rungs behind Thailand (47), Kazakhstan (49) and Iran (51). Singapore was ranked first, followed by Hong Kong and South Korea while Japan and Taiwan were joint-fourth, in an Asian dominance of the top five spots in the study" - The Malay Mail Online, May 13 2015.

 Frankly speaking, I hope the government will have some solid political will to identify what has been the problem, to conduct research on the pros and cons, and to implement much needed PPSMI so that the country would not be too far behind our neighbor.

 Additional: I think the Performance Management & Delivery Unit (Pemandu) is getting more serious to enhance the proficiency of English in Malaysia. Check out the Pemandu's clip below: