"Is my child eligible for Mother Tongue Language exemption in Singapore primary schools?"

"My special needs child will enter P1 next year. I am really worried about him. I don't think he can cope with the pressure of Mother Tongue Language learning, especially the writing part. Can I apply for Mother Tongue Language exemption in Singapore primary schools? How do I go about it?"

We often come across parents with such worries. So this article focusses on Mother Tongue Language exemption in Singapore primary schools, who is eligible for it, and how to apply.

Mother Tongue Language exemption in Singapore primary schools

All students in Singapore primary and secondary schools are required to study their official Mother Tongue Language (MTL) - Chinese, Malay or Tamil. A non-Tamil Indian may choose to offer as his/her MTL: Tamil, or a non-Tamil Indian Language such as Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi or Urdu.

Students are also required to be tested in their respective MTLs at the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE), and the GCE ‘N’, ‘O’ and ‘A’ level examinations.

Is my child eligible for Mother Tongue Language exemption in Singapore primary schools?

However, there is some flexibility offered, and students may apply for exemption from studying their official Mother Tongue Language (MTL). According to statistics from the MOE, from 2010 to 2013, the proportion of students exempted from taking MTL has been about 3. 5% of each cohort.

Students can be exempted from MTL learning, if they fall in either of these 2 categories:

Joining school mid-stream: Students who join or re-join the Singapore school system mid-stream without prior learning of the MTL, can apply for an exemption.

For example, if your child has been abroad for some time, and has now joined a Singapore school mid-stream, he can apply to the Ministry of Education through the school, for exemption from studying the official MTL, or to study a non-official language such as French, German or Japanese in lieu of the Mother Tongue Language.

All applications have to be made through the school, and will be considered on a case by case basis.

theAsianparent also got to know from the MOE that, such students will have to submit their previous 2 years results at the overseas school, as part of the application process.

Now if you are also wondering if a child who has been exempted from studying Mother Tongue Language (MTL) can choose to study his MTL, and yet not take the MTL at PSLE, the answer is yes. The child can still attend the MTL lessons if he wishes.

Is my child eligible for Mother Tongue Language exemption in Singapore primary schools?

Medical conditions: Children with certified medical conditions that would adversely affect their ability to cope with MTL, like dyslexia, autism spectrum disorder and ADHD are also eligible for Mother Tongue Language exemption in Singapore schools. This is to help reduce their overall academic load, so that they can cope better with the learning of other subjects.

Again, applications have to be made through the school, and the child's medical report has to be submitted.

According to this report, MOE clarifies that, in the assessment of severe learning disabilities in children, one key consideration would be how well the child responds to instructions given by the teacher, and her rate of response to instructions.

MOE has also written in a statement that, "When reviewing applications for MTL exemption from students with special educational needs (SEN), the consideration is not just whether they have diagnosed special needs, but also how they are coping with their overall learning."

According to MOE, students with special educational needs (SEN) who are coping with their overall studies, but still have difficulty with the Standard MTL curriculum, should consider the option of taking MTL at Foundation level, which is less demanding, instead of seeking MTL exemption.

The Foundation MTL curriculum at Primary 5 and 6, has much less demand on writing skills, and focusses on the development of oral and listening skills.

Mother Tongue Language exemption and PSLE

So, does Mother Tongue Language exemption in Singapore affect PSLE results?

According to The Straits Times, students exempted from mother tongue language are assigned a score for the purpose of Secondary 1 posting. This is done by referring to the PSLE performance of peers with similar English, mathematics and science scores.

So, a pupil exempted from mother tongue will be assigned a grade for the subject, based on how peers of similar calibre perform in it.

According to the current system, the PSLE score of a pupil will be the sum of his Achievement Levels (ALs) for English, maths, science and mother tongue, with 4 being the best score, and 32 the lowest. For those exempt from MTL, the PSLE score will be the sum of ALs for his three subjects plus the assigned mother-tongue score.