PPSMI. My economics way of thought

PPSMI news

This news is about Malaysia's latest government policy in phasing out PPSMI, which stands for Teaching Maths and Science in English. PPSMI is a national project implemented by the government in 2003 which enforces all students to learn science and mathematics in English starting from standard one. The latest policy is that the government is going to phase out PPSMI in year 2012 and restores the teaching of science and maths in Malay Language, which is the national language of Malaysia. Such act causes outraged reaction from the public, both supporters and oppositions in PPSMI, mainly in the issue of the quality of the education in maths and science in future. Form the economics point of view, this particular articles is related to the idea of ethical trade, unintended consequences, and incentives/ behaviors of the public.

Some questions in my mind:
Who does the government counts to? Who do these policies makers represent? Does it lead to inequality between the people from the rural area and the urban area, since the people from the rural area does not have the opportunity to be exposed to maths and science in English if such policy is made?

How about paternalism problem? Why should government spend so much money on forcing the public to learn/ teach maths and science in Malay language just to "preserve the status of national language"?

Shouldn't the government just let the people choose what interest them most so that they can be incentivized the most from the learning process?

How about the unintended consequences? Does it really going to improve the grades of maths and science if the language is changed into Malay Language? When student becomes demotivated in learning the courses because of that particular language, will they still do well? How would the behaviours of students and parents and all people change after such policy is made?

This particular article also has the sham reasoning elements: by just showing that the result of maths and science drop during the implementation of PPSMI, it doesn't mean that PPSMI is the cause of dropping in grades of students in Maths and Science. Is there a causation fallacy in there?

In my opinion I do not agree with what the deputy prime minister's opinion in the abolishment of PPSMI mainly because I believe that such policy is made without the consideration of particular economics point of views. It is more like a political candy rather than an education policy.