Malay Language Elective Programme

Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim asked the Minister for Education (a) if he will give an update on the progress and developments of the Malay Language Elective Programme (MLEP) and Elective Malay for Secondary Schools (EMAS) programme; (b) how many students have registered for these programmes in the last three years; and (c) how many of these students still pursue to specialise in Malay Language upon their completion of the programmes.

Mr Heng Swee Keat: The Malay Language Elective Programme (MLEP) and the Elective Malay for Secondary Schools (EMAS) were introduced in 2001 to provide more opportunities for students who are keen to pursue Malay Language (ML) at a higher level.

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Both MLEP and EMAS programmes enrich students' language capacity, and appreciation of Malay literature and culture through a variety of enrichment activities such as language and literature camps, lecture series and immersion programmes to neighbouring countries. Students share their creative expressions in prose and poems through annual publications.

EMAS has been offered in two Secondary schools and MLEP in two Junior Colleges; in 2012, we added Anderson Secondary and Pioneer Junior College to offer EMAS and MLEP respectively.

Both EMAS and MLEP continue to attract students strong in ML to enrol in them. Over the past three years, intake into EMAS averaged 355, whereas that for MLEP averaged 122.

To further encourage our students to learn Malay at a higher level, MOE has also increased the number of MLEP scholarships from 10 to 15 with effect from 2012.

Since its inception, about 100 former MLEP students have continued to pursue Malay Language related courses in either National University of Singapore (NUS) or National Institute of Education (NIE).