CHINESE LANGUAGE TEACHERS IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

Mr Chiam See Tong asked the Minister for Education (a) how many Chinese language teachers does his Ministry have and what is the average age of these teachers; (b) whether they are all degree holders; (c) how many National University of Singapore graduates majoring in Chinese Studies joined his Ministry each year between 1983 and 1989; (d) what was the annual budget and the enrolment in the Chinese Studies Department for each year between 1983 and 1989; and (e) what is the number of books in the library of that Department.

Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam: (a) Presently, the Ministry of Education has a total of 4097 Chinese language teachers. The average age of these teachers is 46.5 years.

(b) Of the 4097 teachers, 1029 are graduate teachers.

(c) We have recruited 152 graduate teachers majoring in Chinese Studies from the NUS between 1983 and 1989. The number recruited each year is as follows:- 1983 - 27 1984 - 35 1985 - 24 1986 - 13 1987 - 19 1988 - 12 1989 - 22 --- Total - 152 ---

(d) (1) Annual budget of the NUS Department of Chinese Studies

1983/84 $1,457,200 1984/85 $1,471,400 1985/86 $1,860,000 1986/87 $1,995,200 1987/88 $1,700,500 1988/89 $1,697,300 1989/90 $2,416,900

(2) Student enrolment in the NUS Department of Chinese Studies (1983/84 - 1989/90) 1983/84 589 1984/85 759 1985/86 855 1986/87 852 1987/88 803 1988/89 923 1989/90 1000

(e) Number of books in the Reference Library in the NUS Department of Chinese Studies: approximately 8570 volumes.

Number of books in the NUS Chinese Library: approximately 350,000 volumes.