NEW MALAY SYLLABUS FOR PRIMARY ONE TO FOUR

NEW MALAY SYLLABUS FOR PRIMARY ONE TO FOUR: The following Question stood in the name of Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim -

15. To ask the Minister for Education (a) whether there are plans to enhance awareness and encourage the adoption of the new Malay syllabus for Primary One to Four students to private education institutions teaching Malay Language as part of their syllabus; and (b) whether the review of the Malay Language curriculum looked into the needs of students with learning difficulties, such as dyslexia.

Mr Liang Eng Hwa (Holland-Bukit Timah): Question No. 15, Sir.

RAdm [NS] Lui Tuck Yew (for the Minister for Education): Mr Speaker, Sir, the Ministry of Education (MOE) publishes the syllabi of all subjects on the Internet. The Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board also publishes information of all examination subjects on its website.

In addition, MOE invites Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura (MUIS) to attend briefings on changes in the ML syllabi and examination formats. For example, MUIS officials were present for the launch of the new Primary One to Four Malay Language Syllabus on 26th April 2007. We understand that MUIS shares the information with the madrasahs , which make use of our ML syllabus and textbooks to prepare their students for PSLE.

The new ML curriculum provides for differentiated learning by students with different levels of proficiency in the language. Students with learning difficulties, including dyslexia, are being supported on a holistic basis by Special

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Needs Officers deployed in our schools and with expertise from relevant organisations like the Dyslexia Association of Singapore. In other words, the support is not limited to a particular subject, or, for example, the Malay Language, but to a whole range of different subjects altogether. Students with severe learning difficulties may also be given exemption from offering mother tongue language at national examinations.