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Tamil as a Third Language

Published Date: 15 January 2019 12:00 AM

News Parliamentary Replies

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Mr Murali Pillai, Bukit Batok

Question

To ask the Minister for Education whether the Ministry will consider offering Tamil as a third language to students who have the ability and aptitude to learn a third language, in addition to Malay and Chinese that have already been offered to such students.

Response

1. MOE is committed to promoting the learning of our Mother Tongue Languages, including Tamil, and we continually look for ways to enhance it.

2. MOE is open to offering Tamil as a third language if there is sufficient demand for it. However, current demand for it among non-Tamil students is low. We will review the matter if the situation changes.

3. In the meantime, we will continue to support our students learning the language as their Mother Tongue in schools, with well-qualified Tamil language teachers and quality teaching resources.