Mother Tongue Language Exemption for Primary School Students

Dr Lam Pin Min asked the Minister for Education (a) how many students in the 2012 Primary school cohort are exempted from taking their mother tongue language; (b) what is the breakdown of the reasons for these exemptions; and (c) how will these students be managed in terms of their PSLE scores compared to their peers who take all four PSLE examinable subjects.

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Mr Heng Swee Keat: About 1,600 students (3%) of the 2012 Primary school cohort were exempted from taking their mother tongue languages. Of these students, about half entered our schools mid-stream and have not studied any of the mother tongue languages. The rest of the students were exempted on medical grounds as they have learning disabilities.

For the PSLE, a pupil exempted from mother tongue is assessed based on his performance in English, Mathematics and Science. The total score of these three subjects is statistically adjusted so that it reflects an aggregate score comparable to those of his peers who offer mother tongue and have similar total scores for these three subjects.

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