.Sunday, May 16, 2010 ' 9:22 PM Y
"In a multi-racial country like Singapore, it is important for each and everyone to know how to communicate within their racial group. That is where when Mother Tongue steps in.". From the above statement, you can see how important is Mother Tongue in Singapore. To reduce the weighting of Mother Tongue in primary school is definitely not a smart idea. Students must improve on their individual Mother Tongue as it is a language subject similar to English. Now, since both of them are a language subject, why must Mother Tongue language be taken "less seriously"? Keeping and upholding individual Mother Tongue skills is very important. To neglect Mother Tongue, one would be lost of their individual racial culture of "who they are" and "where they come from".
There have been concerns on the advantage of foreign students who have very strong foundation in Mother Tongue to be doing well in the examinations in Singapore. However, their English language issue must also be considered. So there is fairness in saying that foreign students are not advantaged. Being a chinese, the importance of knowing how to read and speak good mandarin is crucial. In addition, mandarin can be used as a way for future communication. To be aware that China's economy has been improving, there is very high chance that Singapore companies would have to seek companies from China for economy co-operation. If Mother Tongue is not being treated seriously, such co-operation with China would be lost as communication problems could occur and when that happens, Singapore could loose the chance to make profit and to improve their economy.
The press conference conduted by Dr Ng(Minister for education) and Mr Lee(Prime Minister of Singapore) have announced that thE Ministry Of Education WILL NOT reduce the weightage of the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE). This has been a much relieve to parents and teachers who have huge concerns of the importance of Mother Tongue.
So, in my conclusion to take Mother Tongue lightly is not a good idea as it could cause so much happenings in Singapore. Both in Economic situation and bilingualism situation. Bilingualism is important! Everyone should strive towards a positive educational attitude!
Er Chin
Labels: Singaporeans Spilt On Mother Tongue Weighting
