PROGRAMME TO GROOM STUDENTS AS BICULTURAL ELITES (Implementation)

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PROGRAMME TO GROOM STUDENTS AS BICULTURAL ELITES:

(Implementation): The following Question stood in the name of Mdm Ho Geok Choo -

6. To ask the Minister for Education (a) how the new programme to groom the identified students as bicultural elites will be implemented using the space created by the integrated programme; (b) why are we confining the new programme to only two schools which are supposed to be able to get things ready in a short time; (c) how will non-scholars be assisted to embrace the new programme; and (d) what will be the desired outcomes for these non-scholars.

Mr Zainudin Nordin: Question No. 6, Sir.

The Minister for Education (Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam): Mr Speaker, Sir, the Bicultural Studies Programme is a key plank in our efforts to groom a core group of students with a confident grasp of the Chinese Language and culture, and contemporary developments in China. It is being introduced in three schools, Dunman High School, Hwa Chong Institution and Nanyang Girls' High School, from next year. These schools were chosen because they are SAP schools and offer Integrated Programmes. They have both a conducive school environment for developing an understanding of Chinese language and culture, and the time and space to run in-depth programmes, including an extended period of immersion in China for the

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students following the Bicultural Studies Programme. In addition, the three schools have strong and established linkages with schools in China, which will be an advantage in their immersion programmes. The three schools were therefore natural choices, and in fact had already been working to introduce various elements of Chinese language and China-related studies into their Integrated Programmes. They were ready and did not have to rush to come up together with a new programme or new approach to meet MOE's needs.

While not all students in the Bicultural Studies Programme in these three schools will be awarded the new SAP scholarships, we expect all of them to undertake a broadly similar course of study, at the secondary and JC levels.

The Bicultural Studies Programme builds on our other existing projects and efforts to nurture an abiding interest in students for the Chinese Language and to encourage those who are able to master the language to go as far as they can. First, a significant group of students in each cohort take Higher Chinese Language (HCL), which is offered from the primary to JC levels. This year, in fact, we have 25% more students taking Higher Chinese in our secondary schools. Second, we have 25 SAP schools at the primary and secondary levels, each with their own programmes to nurture an interest in the language and culture. Further, we have the Language Elective Programme (Chinese), offered at three junior colleges and catering to about 150 students, which aims to deepen students' appreciation of Chinese Language and Literature.

The Bicultural Studies Programme goes further than these other programmes, but by no means detracts from them. Each of these programmes is essential. In different ways and to different extents, they will groom

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students with a good foundation in Chinese Language, history and culture, and an understanding of contemporary China. Some students, particularly those on the Bicultural Studies Programme and LEP (Chinese) are also likely to pursue further studies in universities in China. Ultimately, these programmes, taken together, aim to develop a group of students in each cohort with a lifelong interest in the Chinese language and culture, and the ability to help Singapore engage with China in the years to come.