PAS tentang PPSMI dikembalikan semula

PAS menentang sama sekali dalam apa bentuk sekali pun cadangan atau tindakan bagi mengembalikan semula pengajaran dan pembelajaran sains dan matematik dalam bahasa Inggeris (PPSMI).
Ini kerana menurut pengerusi lajnah pendidikan PAS, Datuk Abu Bakar Chik, rata-rata kajian mendapati PPSMI gagal memajukan bahasa Inggeris di kalangan anak-anak terutama di luar bandar.

“Apatah lagi kita boleh mengatakan bahawa, keciciran (di kalangan pelajar) telah begitu banyak dan begitu meluas sekali kerana akibat daripada PPSMI ini,” katanya dalam satu kenyataan kepada Malaysiakini.

Beliau merujuk tuntutan oleh The Parent Action Group For Education (PAGE), baru-baru ini yang meminta satu pertemuan dengan jemaah menteri bagi menerangkan rasional mengapa tuntutan itu dibuat.

“Kita sebenarnya tidak sama sekali dapat menerima kenyataan ini, dan saya minta untuk kita mengadakan pertemuan dengan pihak PAGE ini, kita mahu dengar daripada mereka apa alasan daripada mereka sebab kita mewakili majoriti rakyat yang tidak mahu kepada PPSMI,” kata Abu Bakar.

“Tetapi apabila PAGE melalui presidennya Datuk Noor Azimah (membuat kenyataan), kita menganggapkan ini satu perkara yang luarbiasa, satu perkara yang baru yang mendatang, yang menurut kenyataannya dia mempunyai bukti dan mendapat sokongan lebih 90 peratus ibu bapa.

Menurut beliau, pendirian PAS itu berasaskan keputusan bersama dengan gabungan lebih 80 NGO dalam Gerakan Mansuhkan PPSMI (GMP) yang mengadakan demostrasi besar-besaran sehingga memaksa kerajaan mengembalikan semula polisi pembelajaran yang asal, bermula tahun 2012.

“Kemudiannya, kerajaan membuat pengubahsuaian dalam erti-kata memperteguhkan (memantapkan) bahasa Inggeris dan memperkasakan (memartabatkan) bahasa Melayu.

“Walaupun PAS berpandangan, ia suatu keputusan yang kurang jelas, pada umumnya kita menganggap bahawa ia adalah sesuatu ubah-suai di atas keperluan yang dihajatkan oleh rakyat bagi membasmi PPSMI dan PPSMI tidak akan diteruskan sama sekali, walaupun ada keinginan untuk perbaiki bahasa Inggeris dalam konteks yang lain,” katanya.

Justeru, menurut Abu Bakar adalah pelik apabila PAGE mendakwa bahawa mereka mempunyai bukti serta sokongan.

Namun menurut Abu Bakar, PAS bersedia mengadakan pertemuan dengan PAGE bagi mendengar alasan kumpulan itu.
“Kita mahu mendengar alasan mereka, namun begitu dari segi untuk mendesak kabinet supaya membolehkan PPSMI dikembalikan, kita menentang sama sekali dalam apa bentuk sekali pun.

“Tetapi dengan PAGE kita mahu mendengar daripada mereka apa alasan yang mereka hendak bawa kepada kabinet tentang perkara ini,” katanya.

** Malaysia Kini

Hurricane Irene

Flooding 'an ongoing concern' amid Irene's destruction

Brattleboro, Vermont -- As a much-weakened Irene entered Canada, it left behind parts of the U.S. East Coast still grappling Monday with dangerous flood waters, widespread power outages and stranded residents.
At least 21 deaths in nine states were blamed on Irene, which fizzled to a post-tropical cyclone and headed over eastern Canada on Monday.
"Hurricane Irene's damage is likely to be characterized more by the amount of inland flooding, storm surge and treefall than by direct wind damage, and flooding is still an ongoing concern for many states in the Northeast," said Risk Management Solutions, Inc., which tracks natural catastrophes.
About 3 million customers were without power along Irene's path.

(CNN)

SALAM EIDULFITRI 1432 / 2011

Who are troublemakers behind UK riots?

Images of youths wearing balaclavas and hooded sweatshirts ransacking shops, rioting and torching buildings continue to provoke outrage in the UK.
Those behind the masks have been demonized by some as opportunistic criminals from ghettoized communities dependent on welfare handouts.
London Mayor Boris Johnson said those involved were guilty of "wanton criminality" for which there was no justification. Right wing newspaper columns have blamed youngsters "who believe there is no need to work."
But academics and community leaders say the identities of those who have taken to the streets and their reasons for doing so are far more complex -- representing a tinderbox of economic and social tensions whose explosion was almost inevitable.
On the third night of violence across London, as police in riot gear fended off hails of missiles in streets filled with smoke from burning cars, it was clear their adversaries hailed from different backgrounds -- young and old, black and white.
Likewise, in retail parks where looters forced open the chain store security gates and helped themselves to flat screen televisions and sporting goods, both men and women could be seen running away with bags of stolen goods.
Says Paul Bagguley, a sociologist from the University of Leeds, while the identities of those involved may vary, different types of disorder tends to attract different social groups -- patterns he says matches previous uprisings in Britain.
"In terms of direct conflict with the police, it is mostly young men, but in terms of looting, it's more mixed -- young men and young women involved," he said.
Bagguley said, however, that those involved share low-income backgrounds, suggesting that while the violence may have been triggered by anger over a fatal police shooting last week, the long-term impact of the global economic downturn has helped fan the flames. ** London (CNN)