- Joined
- Jul 24, 2008
- Messages
- 33,627
- Points
- 0
<TABLE id=msgUN border=0 cellSpacing=3 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD id=msgUNsubj vAlign=top>
Coffeeshop Chit Chat - Pinky's sis-in-law to chair review of MT</TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=msgtable cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="96%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=msg vAlign=top><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgbfr1 width="1%"> </TD><TD><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead vAlign=top><TD class=msgF width="1%" noWrap align=right>From: </TD><TD class=msgFname width="68%" noWrap>kojakbt_89 <NOBR></NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate width="30%" noWrap align=right>4:31 am </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT height=20 width="1%" noWrap align=right>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname width="68%" noWrap>ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right> (1 of 6) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft rowSpan=4 width="1%"> </TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>33028.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt>Today's paper:
However, he saw a silver lining in that those who spoke up against downgrading the mother tongue's weightage included a new generation of bilingual Singaporeans who have benefited from the bilingual education system and wanted it to continue.
He clarified there was no U-turn in policy, as the mother tongue is crucial 'not just to the education system, but to our conception of what sort of society we are'.
'We are not just people who came from outer space who have learnt English. We have histories, heritages and identities...which define us, and at the same time link us to the world we live in - Asia, India, China, South-east Asia,' he said.
But he stressed that improvements to mother tongue teaching and testing are needed to keep it alive among subsequent generations, among whom an increasing number come from English-speaking families.
The Government plans to invest more in the recruitment and training of mother tongue teachers to cater to pupils of different language abilities.
The director-general of education, Ms Ho Peng, is chairing a review of the mother tongue languages.
Her committee is exploring two key thrusts - differentiated teaching and proficiency-based testing - and will present an update in a few months.
What it will not do is remove incentives for pupils to do well in the subject, emphasised PM Lee. They will still need to perform well in mother tongue to get into a choice secondary school.
</TD></TR><TR><TD> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=msgleft width="1%"> </TD><TD class=msgopt width="24%" noWrap>
Options</TD><TD class=msgrde width="50%" noWrap align=middle> 
Reply</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
However, he saw a silver lining in that those who spoke up against downgrading the mother tongue's weightage included a new generation of bilingual Singaporeans who have benefited from the bilingual education system and wanted it to continue.
He clarified there was no U-turn in policy, as the mother tongue is crucial 'not just to the education system, but to our conception of what sort of society we are'.
'We are not just people who came from outer space who have learnt English. We have histories, heritages and identities...which define us, and at the same time link us to the world we live in - Asia, India, China, South-east Asia,' he said.
But he stressed that improvements to mother tongue teaching and testing are needed to keep it alive among subsequent generations, among whom an increasing number come from English-speaking families.
The Government plans to invest more in the recruitment and training of mother tongue teachers to cater to pupils of different language abilities.
The director-general of education, Ms Ho Peng, is chairing a review of the mother tongue languages.
Her committee is exploring two key thrusts - differentiated teaching and proficiency-based testing - and will present an update in a few months.
What it will not do is remove incentives for pupils to do well in the subject, emphasised PM Lee. They will still need to perform well in mother tongue to get into a choice secondary school.
</TD></TR><TR><TD> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=msgleft width="1%"> </TD><TD class=msgopt width="24%" noWrap>
