Debated in Parliament on 10 Sep 2018.
Mr Chong Kee Hiong asked the Minister for Education (a) whether the Ministry will review our kindergarten curriculum to evaluate if the exposure to mother tongues among our young is adequate; and (b) what measures will be introduced to strengthen their foundation in these increasingly important languages.
The Ministry of Education (MOE), in consultation with early childhood educators as well as local and international experts, has developed the Nurturing Early Learners (NEL) Framework and Educators’ Guides for Mother Tongue Languages (MTL) to support education for preschool children.
The Framework articulates a broad set of vision, objectives, guiding principles and learning goals, including enabling children to learn and use MTL.
Today, MOE Kindergartens offer all three MTLs. Every day, one hour of lesson time is dedicated to MTL. This has not been adopted by all preschools, but more will expand their offering of MTLs in the coming few years.
Beyond classroom exposure, the MTL Promotion Committees and Lee Kuan Yew Fund for Bilingualism have also supported various programmes to encourage MTL use at home and in everyday settings. These efforts, together with the support of the community and parents, will provide a conducive environment for our children to learn MTL.
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