THIRD LANGUAGE STUDENT POPULATION

Parliament of Singapore · 11 July 1989 · 7th Parliament

Official Report, 11 July 1989, Vol 54, Issue 4 · Open in the reader (summaries, search, filters)

Lau Ping SumTony Tan Keng Yam
3

Mr Lau Ping Sum asked the Minister for Education how many students have taken up a third language (Japanese, French or German) since the inception of the scheme and whether the scheme will be expanded.

Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam: The Foreign Language Programme was introduced in 1978. The scheme is intended for bright students who can cope with and wish to take a third language. Since the start of the programme, 7,842 secondary school and junior college students have been admitted into the programme. The breakdown is as follows: 3,384 took French, 1,487 took German and 2,971 opted for Japanese.

The present scheme is catering adequately for students who have an aptitude for languages. The Ministry of Education will expand the scheme if there is a need to do so.

Source: Singapore Parliament Official Report (Hansard) for 11 July 1989. Republished on SGParliament.