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The Education Ministry has recently decided that teachers who aren’t Bahasa Melayu (BM) specialists but still teach BM will now need to sit for a proficiency test. Good move, I say. At least someone’s making sure the people teaching the language actually know how to use it. We wouldn't want our kids learning our precious national language from teachers who deliver it in substandard Bahasa Melayu.
Oh wait - too late. I’ve seen that happen in a real classroom where the BM teacher goes: “La ni korang jangan dok hapaih ja, cuba bukak mata besaq-besaq pastu paham soklan kat depan.”
But then again, can’t fault our BM teachers too much. After all, most Malays I know don’t even speak good Bahasa Melayu themselves.
Now don’t get me wrong, I love the focus on BM. It’s our national language and we should absolutely be proud of it. But here’s the thing - what about all the other subjects our children are sitting through every day? Who’s testing those teachers? Because let me tell you, as a product of sekolah kebangsaan myself, and now a parent who sent both kids through the same system (plus a stint as a tuition teacher), I’ve seen things that would make you raise not just an eyebrow, but your whole forehead.
Take for example a Math teacher teaching students to solve a problematic question in English, insisting that “bycicle” is the correct spelling instead of “bicycle.”
Or the science teacher with over 20 years of experience who set an objective test with two correct answers. When pointed out, instead of fixing it, she defended herself: “Oh, but students are only supposed to know one correct answer because that’s the only one in the syllabus.”
“How about the other correct answer?” I asked.
“Oh, they don’t need to know that yet. It’s only covered in next year’s syllabus.”
Excuse me? So now science is not about facts, but about what year you happen to be in? Imagine if Newton’s apple had fallen at the wrong time - Malaysia might have banned gravity until it entered the syllabus.
And let’s be fair - I’m not here to shame all our teachers. Many are excellent, dedicated, and go above and beyond for their students. But we also know plenty who are glued to their reference books because without them, they’d be as lost as their students. Some don’t even bother hiding it. These are the ones who recycle the same notes and test papers year after year, as if they’ve discovered the holy scriptures of education.
Here’s the reality: our kids are growing up in a world where knowledge is literally at their fingertips. They know things we parents didn’t even dream of at their age. If teachers aren’t equipped, motivated, and continuously trained, it’s only a matter of time before the students outpace them completely. And then what happens? You’ll get classrooms where kids politely nod along while silently fact-checking the teacher on Google.
That’s how students lose interest in lessons, classrooms, and school. And truth be told, it’s already happening.
So yes, let’s test BM teachers. But let’s also test all teachers. Because while BM is important, so is math, science, history, and yes - even the correct spelling of bicycle.
Fa Abdul (fa.abdul.penang@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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