Monday, March 9, 2009

Teaching Maths and Science in English

The failure of teaching maths and science in English is not because the idea is bad but because the teachers are incompetent.
1. The present teachers never had the experience of learning maths and science in English when they were in school. Those who had this experience have already retired.
2. Their first experience learning maths and science in English was when they were at the university.
3. The English used in some of the maths and science books is not suitable for school level. That goes for the spoken English used by the teachers too - a carry over of how they were taught at the university. To prove that students can be taught in English I once took history and Ugama classes from their regular teachers and conducted the lessons in English. Responses was good. Unfortunately I was unable to take over maths and science classes because of my unfamiliarity with the subject matter.
4. There are many benefits from teaching maths and science in English. Why discontinue it because of the incompetence of a few.

No comments: