Appeals for Exemption from Studying Mother Tongue Language

Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng asked the Minister for Education (Schools) (a) how many appeals for exemption from Mother Tongue Language (MTL) have been received in each of the last three years; (b) what are the reasons for the appeals and what are the outcomes of these appeals; and (c) which department in the Ministry is responsible for assessing the appeals for an exemption from MTL and what is their basis for the approval of the appeals.

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministers for Education (Ms Low Yen Ling) (for the Minister for Education): Mr Speaker, Sir, bilingualism is a cornerstone of Singapore’s education system. Under our bilingual policy, students are required to offer English and a Mother Tongue Language (MTL).

Students may only be granted MTL exemption under exceptional circumstances, such as, if they join our schools mid-stream without having learnt an official MTL or when they have certified Special Educational Needs (SEN) that severely affect their ability to cope with overall learning. Over the past three years, the proportion of Primary 6 students exempted from offering MTL due to SEN has remained fairly stable, at around 2.3% annually.

MTL exemption applications and appeals are evaluated by an MOE panel. The panel comprises specialists with expertise in curriculum provisions and SEN. Depending on the complexity of the case, the panel may also consult clinicians in the healthcare sector in their evaluations of the applications.

Students with difficulties in reading and writing MTL can take up Foundation MTL in Primary 5 and 6, and the MTL "B" curriculum at Secondary and Junior College levels. The Foundation MTL and MTL "B" curriculum focuses on the development of oral and listening skills, with a reduced demand on writing skills. This allows them to continue to have exposure to learning MTL.

Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng (Jalan Besar): I thank the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for the answer. I strongly support MOE's direction for bilingualism and for several reasons linked to our heritage, our roots and our culture. I have received quite a number of appeals and a lot of concerns as well, from some families. So, I am wondering if MOE has used this tool of exemption very bluntly. So bluntly that the families are really struggling and even thinking of future plans whether they should remain in the local education system after the compulsory education years. So, one, I would like to ask MOE if we can re-look at the ways by which we make these decisions. Can we finetune these decisions and consider those cases with merit, especially if they are strongly supported by a very well-respected psychologist and psychiatrist in the field? Also, finally, to ask if MOE can more creatively come up with more ideas so that people who go through this system of learning Mother Tongue do not end up hating it or disliking it so much and dropping it the minute they officially can.

Ms Low Yen Ling: Mr Speaker, I want to thank Member Ms Denise Phua for her supplementary questions. I would like to assure her and Members of the House that MOE reviews and updates the criteria MTL exemption regularly to ensure that the objectives of MTL exemption are met and also remain relevant. So, I want to assure her on that.

I also want to reiterate the MTL exemption is granted to students with special educational needs. Allow me to just share some of the considerations by the MOE panel. First and foremost, when we receive an application, we will look at the diagnosis by the psychologist that they had submitted. Two, we will also liaise with the student's school to understand how the student is managing his or her learning. Three, we will work with the school to better understand if the student is responding well to the teaching and instruction during the MTL lessons. All these are important inputs for the decision. The fourth consideration that we look at is, how well the student is coping with the overall studies.

For students who submit MTL-exemption applications on grounds of special educational needs, these are the four key considerations. I mentioned earlier we do review the criteria from time to time. I want to give Members the assurance. I also want to assure Members that MOE HQ takes every MTL-exemption application seriously. We look at it very thoroughly.

Mr Yee Chia Hsing (Chua Chu Kang): I have received feedback that some of the families have been working abroad for many years and their kids grew up overseas. In their case, when they come back, the children are supposed to enter Secondary school and they have to suddenly study Mother Tongue, when they do not even speak a single word of Mandarin. Is that also ground for exemption?

Ms Low Yen Ling: Mr Speaker, I want to thank Mr Yee Chia Hsing for his supplementary question. Earlier on, in my answer, I did specify that there are two target segments of students that we will consider granting the MTL exemption. The first group will be students who are severely affected because of their special educational needs. The second group will be students who join our Singapore education system mid-stream and they did not have the opportunity to learn MTL.

So, yes, we do consider the application for MTL exemption by the group that is highlighted by Mr Yee. I want to assure Mr Yee that for those applications, we would evaluate factors like the applicants learning history, previous country of residence, admission level and also, the extent of home language environment.

Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng: As a follow-up to Mr Yee's question, I would like to ask Senior Parliamentary Secretary, is it true that one of the factors of consideration is that the child or the applicant must fail every subject before they can be exempted MTL? And secondly, just to comment on Mr Yee's question, I do think that even if people or children come back from overseas, there is space for us to encourage them in the learning of MTL. I would like MOE to consider, in the spirit of lifelong learning, is there any way by which you could convene a group so that we can continue with this learning of MTL or other languages that are useful or of interest, for the longer term beyond the formal school years.

Ms Low Yen Ling: I thank Ms Phua for her supplementary questions. The answer to her first question about the marks, there is no arithmetic formula per se. I did share the four key factors that the MOE panel will consider. And one consideration is how well they are coping in their overall study, whether there is a need for us to make adjustment to the student's total academic load. That is one.

It is worthwhile for me to take a few seconds to reiterate that in MOE, we are committed to support and enable every student to learn MTL at a level that he or she is capable of, something that Ms Phua earlier said that she was fully supportive of. This is why the MTL curriculum is differentiated to cater to the needs of students based on their varying abilities.

I can give an example. We do have students with special educational needs who have chosen to take Foundation MTL at Primary 5 and 6. The focus of the Foundation MTL is to help them to develop a strong foundation in their oral and listening skills, with less demand on writing.

Let me be specific. The Member highlighted the marks. For example, if a Primary 5 student take Foundation MTL, he or she, at this point in time, does not need to write a single character or word in MTL during exam. Why is that so? Because 55% of the marks is based on Oral Exam; 30% of the marks is based on Listening Comprehension; the other 15% of the marks is based on Comprehension with multiple choice answers. So, there are students who have chosen to take Foundation MTL so that they can build up their foundation in MTL as the parents know bilingualism is advantageous to the child.

As for the third question, yes, this is why we are working with SkillsFuture Singapore to bring MTL lessons into the heartlands to allow adult learners to continue to hone their proficiency in MTL.