Weighting of Mother Tongue for Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE)

BM0022 Effective Writing Skills ICA 4
Posted by: Tang Wen Xiang (103016C)
1st Post: Weighting of Mother Tongue for Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE)

The policy of bilingualism was introduced in schools in 1966. Students were expected to learn English and their own Mother Tongue. With bilingualism, English is used as the language linking the different ethnic groups, while Mother Tongue language is used to impart moral values and cultural traditions of each race. With the help of bilingualism, in addition to other measures that the government had put in place, Singapore is able to become a multi-racial and multi-ethnic society.

However, when our Education Minister, Ng Eng Hen, says that the Ministry of Education (MOE) was looking at options to address the overemphasis on exams, where Mother Tongue Language (MTL) counts for so much in the PSLE. I became concerned as it means that students will put lesser attention in Mother Tongue and the values that they should learn might not be make a deep impression on them.

I understand why MTL teachers have difficulty choosing what to teach their students as on the one hand, they have textbooks to build up the foundation of students of the phrase or the words to begin with. On the other hand, they are worried that their students will lose out on the real-life issues in terms of comprehension, which they should be preparing the students for.

Thus, I agree that weighting of MTL for PSLE should remain and MTL should be taught in a new way, to cater to differing abilities and to meet the dynamic needs of the student population which is proposed by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. I think that government should look ahead and make changes now or else another 5 years of students will have their less optimal experience with Mother Tongue. Especially when China’s economy is growing rapidly and the use of Chinese language is getting important.

In conclusion, I strongly believe that Singapore’s government will be able make a correct decision on Singapore’s bilingual education to give student their best headstart possible.
Deepest condolences to Dr Goh Keng Swee.