NON-TAMIL INDIAN PUPILS (Study of mother tongue as second language)

Mr Davinder Singh asked the Minister for Education whether his Ministry has any plans to allow non-Tamil Indian pupils to study their own mother tongue as a second language.

The Minister for Education (Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam): Mr Speaker, Sir, our bilingual policy requires all pupils in schools to study a second language in addition to English. The Ministry of Education provides instruction and examinations in the three official languages - Chinese, Malay and Tamil - and non-Tamil Indian pupils are presently required to choose one of these languages as their second language.

Sir, the question of allowing non-Tamil Indians to study their own mother tongues (Gujarati, Punjabi, and so on) in place of Tamil is not a new one. It was considered as long ago as 1956. But owing to the difficulty of providing instruction in the languages and maintaining standards in examinations, the Ministry decided that non-Tamil Indian pupils should confine the choice of their second language to one of the three official languages, ie, either Chinese, Malay or Tamil.

At present, a small number of Indian pupils in our secondary schools study a minority Indian language other than Tamil as a third language and offer it as an '0' level subject. The following minority Indian languages are available as '0' level subjects - Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi, and Urdu.

Sir, since examinations in the above five minority Indian languages are available in the '0' level examinations and the standards are maintained by the Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate, the Ministry has reviewed the matter and has decided to allow from 1990, ie, next year, non-Tamil Indian pupils to offer one of the above five minority Indian languages as their second language in secondary schools. As the Ministry will not be able to provide instruction in these languages, the non-Tamil Indian pupils will have to arrange for their own teachers but, where possible, the schools will make available their premises for lessons.

The Ministry is presently discussing with the Cambridge authorities to make available examinations in the above five minority Indian languages at the 'AO'level and also at the 'N' level. When these examinations are available, possibly by 1992, non-Tamil Indian pupils will be allowed to choose one of these languages as their second language at the 'AO' level and at the 'N' level examinations.

At the primary school level, the problem is more difficult as both the Ministry and Cambridge are at present not in a position to provide examinations in the minority Indian languages other than Tamil. We have asked Cambridge to look into the feasibility of their assisting us to make available examinations in the minority Indian languages at the Primary School Leaving Examinations (PSLE). Pending the setting up of examinations in the minority Indian languages at PSLE, non-Tamil Indian pupils will continue to choose one of the official languages - Chinese, Malay or Tamil - as their second language at PSLE.

Much obliged, Sir.