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14 Pre-School Teachers Recognised at the 9th Mother Tongue Languages Symposium

Published Date: 29 August 2020 12:00 AM

News Press Releases

1. Minister for Education, Mr Lawrence Wong, launched the 9th Mother Tongue Languages Symposium (MTLS), which took the form of an e-MTLS, on Saturday, 29 August 2020.

Outstanding Pre-school Mother Tongue Language Award

2. 14 dedicated pre-school teachers were recognised as recipients of the annual Outstanding Pre-school Mother Tongue Language Award (OPMTL) - seven received the Outstanding Award and another seven received the Merit Award. The award recipients (see Annex) were selected from a total of 84 nominations.

3. The OPMTL Teacher Award – jointly presented by the Committee to Promote Chinese Language Learning (CPCLL), the Malay Language Learning and Promotion Committee (MLLPC), and the Tamil Language Learning and Promotion Committee (TLLPC) – recognises the contributions of our pre-school teachers in making the learning of MTLs engaging and in nurturing a love for languages among pre-school children. The selection panel for the award recipients comprised nine experienced pre-school educators and academics, who conducted online lesson observations and interviews with the teachers as part of the selection process this year.

Highlights of e-MTLS

4. The MTL Symposium is an annual event co-organised by the Ministry of Education, CPCLL, MLLPC, and TLLPC. Into its ninth year, the Symposium continues to bring together schools and the community in sharing their collective efforts in promoting our MTLs through creative and engaging programmes.

5. A highlight of this year's Symposium was the live panel discussion titled "Creating an Immersive Environment for the Learning of Our Mother Tongue Languages". The discussion was moderated by Minister of State for Education, Ms Sun Xueling, with Minister Wong as one of the panellists. Panellists shared their expert views and experiences as well as tips on ways to create an immersive environment for the learning of MTLs within our homes and in the community. Parents and educators also had the opportunity to participate in this panel discussion.

6. The e-MTLS featured a virtual gallery with 35 exhibits set up by schools and various partners on practices, platforms and programmes related to the learning of MTLs. There were also 18 sharing sessions by education experts, celebrity parents and renowned speakers on creative ways to inspire children to learn MTLs. An Online Quest featuring eight interactive task-based games will be made available in November 2020 on the e-MTLS website. The recorded segments of the Symposium will also be available on www.mtls.edu.sg till early 2021.