Tamil as Third Language, in Addition to Malay and Chinese

Mr Murali Pillai asked 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.

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

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.

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.