Implications of the PPSMI policy for the performance of Malaysian secondary schools in mathematics and science subjects

Abstract

The introduction of the Teaching and Learning Mathematics and Science Subjects in English (PPSMI) policy to change the medium of instruction in mathematics and science subjects from Bahasa Melayu to English has raised many debates on the effectiveness of the policy and the ability of the schools, teachers and pupils to adapt to the new medium of instruction. This study evaluates the implications of the PPSMI policy for the school performance in mathematics and science subjects. The school performances before and after the implementation of the policy were assessed and compared according to school types, states, and locations by developing an advanced technique in measuring school efficiency based on hybrid returns to scale (HRS) data envelopment analysis (DEA). A new methodology of measuring change in performance over time based on the Malmquist index was also developed to measure the difference in performance before and after the implementation of the policy. The aim of developing the methodologies is to provide an alternative assessment of the implications of the PPSMI policy for the school performance in mathematics and science subjects thus helping the Ministry of Education Malaysia to decide on the direction of the PPSMI policy. The HRS DEA model is a new extension in DEA based on the concept of selective proportionality in the relationship of input-output variables. It gives a better estimate compared to the original convex models, the constant returns to scale (CRS) and the variable returns to scale (VRS), when some of the inputs and outputs have proportional relationship while others do not. In this study, an HRS-based DEA model utilising 10 inputs and 8 outputs was developed to assess the efficiency of schools from three states i.e. Kedah, Penang, and Perlis. The schools comprise of three different types i.e. the national, fully residential, and religious school-types. The efficiency was also assessed by using the CRS and VRS models to compare the results. The Malmquist index is a popular productivity index for measuring efficiency over time. The Malmquist index can be calculated from the CRS-based or the VRS-based DEA efficiency scores. This study developed a new productivity index called the HRS-based Malmquist index. This is similar to the VRS-based Malmquist index but the calculation of the index is based on the efficiency scores from the HRS DEA model. The efficiency scores and Malmquist indices of schools in different categories (i.e. school-types, states, and locations) were tested for significant difference by using nonparametric statistical tests. Nonparametric statistical tests were used due to the nonparametric nature of DEA. The statistical tests used in this study are Mann-Whitney U Test and Kruskal-Wallis Test to look at independent samples such as samples from different school-types, and Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test and Friedman's Two-Way Analysis of Variance to examine dependent samples such as the difference in performance before and after the implementation of the policy