Percentage of Students Taking Mother Tongue Language at Higher Level at PSLE and O-levels

Assoc Prof Tan Kheng Boon Eugene asked the Minister for Education for each mother tongue language (MTL), what is the percentage of students taking MTL at the higher level at the PSLE and "O" Level examinations in the last 10 years.

Mr Heng Swee Keat: MOE aims to enable students to learn the Mother Tongue Languages (MTL) to as high a level as they could. For students with the ability, aptitude and interest in MTL, MOE's approach is to help them achieve higher levels of language proficiency and cultural knowledge.

Over the last 10 years, there has been an increase in the percentage of students offering Higher Mother Tongue Languages (HMTL) at PSLE and "O" Level. In 2003, 17.6% and 16.3% offered Higher Mother Tongue at PSLE and "O" Level respectively. In 2012, the percentage increased to 23.1% at PSLE and 26.9% at "O" Level.

For Higher Chinese at PSLE and "O" Level, the percentage of students offering this subject has increased from 21.6% to 27.4% and 18.2% to 30.1% respectively. For Higher Malay at PSLE and "O" Level, the percentage has increased from 5.7% to 7.1% and 8.3% to 10.7% respectively. For Higher Tamil at PSLE and "O" Level, the percentage has increased from 15.1% to 21.4% and 11.5% to 24.7% respectively.