THE UNTIMELY DEATH OF PPSMI

The decision is now official. Damned if you do and damned if you don't. This is what I think if I were in the policymakers' shoes. You can never satisfy everyone and to find a solution which can be accepted by everyone is definitely an arduous task enough to leave one unable to sleep properly for months. I always believe that a person should stick to his or her beliefs no matter what they are. As long as enough concrete evidence and solid facts can be produced to support the beliefs and decisions. There is no certainty in life and even if we are proven wrong, it's not the end of everything. Life is about taking chances and in life, there will be conflicts, potentials, opportunities, challenges, constraints and threats. Every shrewd businessman and manager knows that all these factors exist together and not separately. Despite all these, it is sad to see there are still certain quarters who believe that doing something new and revolutionary can be a threat to a certain status quo. Sounds more like a cop-out to me. My question is what do you do to strengthen what you believe in. The world doesn't revolve around us and we are not in any position to command others to do the way we do things. The journey to the top is not always an easy one but can't they see the potentials and opportunities that await them? Most of the time, these are the same people who think that the world owes them while they are sitting comfortably on their hibernating asses. Come on, wake up from your false pride-induced slumber and smell the competition out there. If we want people to learn lessons about life, we had better let them see its harsh realities. Being tough comes from learning to be tough. Personally, I must commend the policymakers for trying to find a middle ground in solving the conflict. The emphasis on grammar and composition is long overdue and I salute the man who is brave enough to say that there is a need for students to learn grammar. Personally for me, teaching grammar in context only works if you use a certain language as your first or second language. It doesn't really work for those who treat it as a foreign language and in our country, especially in the rural areas it still is. Maybe after they have become more comfortable using the language, grammar in context can be incorporated into the lessons but again, maybe. Nothing is ever definite. I'm sure more conflicts will arise but that is part and parcel of life. How you deal with them is what makes you a stronger and more competent person. Now, PPSMI will only be a lost fragment of something that could have been great.