KUALA LUMPUR - MALAYSIA has scrapped a controversial six-year-old policy of using English to teach mathematics and science in schools, following sustained opposition by Malay linguists, Chinese educationists and even within the ruling coalition.

Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who is also Education Minister, on Wednesday said the two subjects will in 2012 revert back to being taught in Bahasa Malaysia in government schools, and in Chinese and Tamil in vernacular schools. The final batch of students who studied under the English policy will complete secondary school in 2014.

'I would not want to say it (the policy) is a complete failure. (But) It has not achieved the desired objective that it was supposed to achieve,' he said.

The policy, known by its Malay initials PPSMI, was started in 2003 by then Premier Mahathir Mohamad, who spoke out angrily against its reversal.

Mindful that Malaysia must raise the standard of the English language among students and workers, the government said it is increasing the time spent on English lessons in primary schools. English literature will be introduced from Primary 4 instead of being an elective subject in secondary schools.

In secondary schools, students will spend 40 per cent more time on English lessons compared to the current syllabus. An additional 14,000 teachers will be hired to teach English as a language, Tan Sri Muhyiddin said. There are 32,000 English language teachers nationwide.

Mr Muhyiddin told a news conference that PPSMI was dropped after 'scientific studies' showed it had resulted in worsening academic results for the two subjects. The exam results between rural and urban students had also widened, and there were not enough teachers who could teach the two subjects in English, he said.

He denied the policy was scrapped due to political pressure, which had included street demonstrations by Malay linguists and opposition supporters. 'It is not political. We made the decision not for political mileage but for the future of our children.'

The scrapping of the policy can still be expected to be an issue that will divide Malaysians.

In a recent poll conducted by the independent Merdeka Centre, 58 per cent of Malaysians surveyed said that they wanted the PPSMI to be maintained. Only 32 per cent of those polled wanted the English policy to be reversed, while 9 per cent were undecided.

Read the full story in Thursday's edition of The Straits Times

hazlinh@sph.com.sg