Launch of Wow Wild Learn Programme in the Malay Language

1.Pre-school children can now experience the Malay language coming alive through their visits to the River Safari. Following the positive response for the Chinese edition of the Wow Wild Learn (WWL) programme, the Malay Language Learning and Promotion Committee (MLLPC) is now collaborating with Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS) to launch a Malay edition as well. The programme will comprise a series of activities for pre-school children and training workshops for pre-school Malay Language teachers.

2. The Malay language edition of WWL will feature fun and interactive experiential activities at the River Safari. A total of 613 pre-school children and 43 teachers from 32 pre-school centres will be participating in the programme this year, and MLLPC aims to expand the WWL programme to 18 more centres by next year.

3. In support of the programme, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Education, Associate Professor Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim said, “It is important for us to partner parents and the community to actively promote the use of Mother Tongue Languages (MTLs), so that our children will continue to have many opportunities to engage in their MTLs outside the classroom. Young children learn languages most effectively when taught in an interactive manner. Through such initiatives, we hope to help our children appreciate the relevance of the language to their daily lives. This will not only make their learning more purposeful, but also more authentic.”

4. Ms May Lok, Director of Education, Wildlife Reserves Singapore, said, “Our parks are living classrooms and the Wild Wow Learn Programme presents new opportunities for us to engage children. We are also very encouraged by the positive response from the previous two instalments of the programme. By extending the programme to the Malay language, we hope that it will continue to inspire and stimulate both pre-school teachers and students alike to find joy and fun in learning in a wildlife environment.”

5. Application details will be released at the end of October 2018, and all participating pre-school centres will also receive subsidised funding when they participate in the programme. Please refer to the Annex for more details.