Press Releases
Information Sheet - Update on Conversational Chinese and Malay Programme
Schools have been encouraged to offer Conversational Chinese and Malay (CCM) to their students since 2005. This is for the purpose of strengthening bonds among students of different races; at the same time helping them acquire the languages that would enable them to operate comfortably in the region.
The initiative has taken off well. The number of schools offering CCM has since increased by more than 2.5 fold from 2006 to 2008. In 2006 there were 87 schools offering Conversational Chinese (CL) and 97 schools offering Conversational Malay (ML). This year, 239 schools offer Conversational CL and 249 schools offer Conversational ML. MOE’s aim is for all primary schools and two-thirds of our secondary schools to offer the CCM programme to their students by 2012.
More Structured Approach with Longer Programme Duration
In March 2007, MOE announced that additional resources would be provided to encourage as many schools as possible to offer CCM to students not taking these languages as their Mother Tongues.
With more support from MOE, schools now offer a more structured programme with a longer duration of 20 hours or more per year. To facilitate its implementation, a modular approach has been adopted - Beginner and Basic modules for primary schools and Elementary, Intermediate and Advanced modules for secondary and post-secondary institutions.
Partnership with Home and Community
The support from MOE has enabled schools to implement CCM in a variety of innovative ways. Some schools have taken the opportunity to strengthen home-school partnership by tapping on parents and alumni to teach the lessons. Others reach out further into the community by working with Community Development Councils (CDC) to engage retirees and housewives as instructors. The CDCs have been very forthcoming and offer good support to the instructors recruited, which include pre- and post-training counseling and IT courses. Examples of these schools are listed in the Annex.
Some schools have even moved beyond the confines of their own school community to incorporate and instil the importance of sharing and caring in our young. For instance, students from Bedok Green Secondary taught CCM to students from nearby Yu Neng Primary.
Annex
Examples of Schools Offering Conversational Chinese Programme
| Primary Schools | Instructors |
|---|---|
| Admiralty Primary School | Parent Volunteer |
| Bukit View Primary School | CDC Instructor |
| Changkat Primary School | Parent Volunteer |
| CHIJ (Katong) Primary School | CDC Instructor |
| Junyuan Primary School | Teachers |
| Lian Hua Primary School | Teachers |
| Yu Neng Primary School | Students from Bedok Green Secondary |
| Secondary Schools | Instructors |
|---|---|
| Ahmad Ibrahim Secondary School | Alumni |
| Bedok Green Secondary School | Instructor |
| Dunman Secondary School | Teachers |
| Gan Eng Seng Secondary School | CDC Instructor |
| Mayflower Secondary School | Alumni |
| Riverside Secondary School | Parent Volunteer |
| Serangoon Garden Secondary School | Teachers |
| Tanjong Katong Secondary School | Teachers |
Examples of Schools Offering Conversational Malay Programme
| Primary Schools | Instructors |
|---|---|
| Admiralty Primary School | Parent Volunteer |
| Changkat Primary School | CDC Instructor |
| CHIJ (Katong) Primary School | CDC Instructor |
| Lian Hua Primary School | Teachers |
| Opera Estate Primary School | Parent Volunteer |
| Poi Ching Primary School | CDC Instructor |
| Qiaonan Primary School | CDC Instructor |
| Tao Nan School | CDC Instructor |
| Secondary Schools | Instructors |
|---|---|
| Deyi Secondary School | Parent Volunteer |
| Dunman High School | Teachers |
| Mayflower Secondary School | Parent Volunteer, Alumni |
| Nanyang Girls’ High School | Teachers |
| Raffles Girls School | CDC Instructor, Alumni |
| Riverside Secondary School | Parent Volunteer |
| Serangoon Garden Secondary School | Adjunct Teachers |
| Tanjong Katong Secondary School | Adjunct Teachers |