I REFER to the letter “State exact number of parents” from Lokkmann Mohd (July 19) on surveys conducted in schools with regard to the teaching of science and mathematics in English (PPSMI), whereby it was reported that more than 95% of parents want to maintain PPSMI. The writer said the surveys were flawed as at one of the schools no more than 50 parents participated.

In the school to which my child goes, 94% of the parents who participated voted to con-tinue with PPSMI. The process of the survey is similar to the democratic process that is being practised in Malaysia. All parents of students from Forms One to Six were given survey forms by the Parent-Teacher Association. The forms were to be dropped into a ballot box provided and the votes counted at an extra-ordinary meeting called by the association.

All parents were given an equal opportunity to vote whether they wanted to retain PPSMI or not. There are of course parents who chose not to participate – I presume that these parents would abide by the decision of the majority. If one were to compare this with Malaysia’s democratic process in a general election, not all eligible voters register and not all registered voters vote, but still, the person elected by those who voted should be accepted as the elected representative of the people in that constituency.

Therefore, as a parent who participated in the process of voting to retain PPSMI, the figures of more than 95% reported by the Parents Action Group for Education is a fair representation of the views of parents involved and should not be doubted.

Lee Cheng Pohz
Penang

Source: The Sun – August 2, 2010