KUALA LUMPUR – The government’s decision to make Bahasa Malaysia a compulsory subject for foreign students must be combined with good sense.
While it is never a loss to learn a new language, a policy decision such as this must be well thought out with the bigger picture in mind.
This appears to be the opinion of educationists from the private education sector, some of whom were concerned that the new policy will contribute to further deterioration of international student registrations.
Dean of the Institute of Postgraduate Studies at Malaysia University of Science and Technology Prof Geoffrey Williams said growth in international student numbers has been falling since 2014.
There were 95,000 applications in 2020, with only 40,000 as of December 2021.
Williams said international student numbers had already fallen during the pandemic, and the emphasis on Bahasa Malaysia will “kill” international student enrolment.
Around 70% of international students are in the private sector, so private higher education institutions (HEI) have borne the brunt of the fall in student numbers.
“More should be done to encourage them to choose Malaysia as their choice of educational destination,” said Williams.
Parent Action Group for Education chairman Datin Noor Azimah Rahim feels emphasis should be more on recruiting international students rather than building their proficiency in Bahasa Malaysia.
In making such a statement, business sense needs to prevail. We should liberalise education and the target set for international students has not been met due to the pandemic and various other reasons,” said Azimah.
She felt more needed to be done to encourage foreign students to seek Malaysia as an education destination, adding that the opportunity to learn Bahasa Malaysia might not be attractive enough for them.
During the recently concluded Umno general assembly on Saturday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced that the teaching of Bahasa Malaysia to international students would be made compulsory.
He added that the government would seek to amend the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Act 1959 (DBP) to allow DBP to act, should there be any violations in the usage of Bahasa Malaysia.
Unlikely for outgoing international students to continue using Bahasa Malaysia
Meanwhile, Malaysian Association of Private Colleges and Universities president Datuk Paramjit Singh said like any other language, one’s proficiency in Bahasa Malaysia could only be enhanced through regular use in that language.
It is not likely that students returning to their home countries will continue to use the language if their mother tongue is the regular mode of communication,” he said.
Having said that, Paramjit stressed that private HEIs were always supportive of the government’s efforts to expand the use of Bahasa Malaysia.
“We support the initiative to take Bahasa Malaysia beyond the shores of Malaysia and in particular, within ASEAN, through collaborative efforts to meet the aspirations of the Prime Minister,” he said, referring to Ismail Sabri’s wish to make Bahasa Malaysia the second language of ASEAN as more than 300 million people in the region speak it – making it the seventh most spoken language in the world.
“On the part of private HEIs, we have always supported the teaching of Bahasa Malaysia to international students in Malaysia and have been teaching it since 2014.
“This is in accordance with the requirements set by MQA (Malaysia Qualifying Agency).
“It is a compulsory subject within all tertiary courses, and this has ensured a level of proficiency amongst international students,” said Paramjit, who is also CEO and co-founder of the Asia Pacific University.
National Association of Private Educational Institutions president Associate Professor Elajsolan Mohan, meanwhile, revealed that the Bahasa Melayu Komunikasi (BMK) paper was now being taught to all international students.
“However, there are exams set for the BMK module and nothing calculated towards their overall CGPA,” said Elanjsolan, who felt current standards are sufficient to encourage and provide an understanding of Bahasa Malaysia for international students, as the subject had to be taken up by international students as per MQA guidelines. – The Vibes, March 23, 2022
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