Should the weighting of mother tongue be reduced at the PSLE?

If you have been concerned over the governments proposal of reducing the weighting of Mother Tongue in the PSLE, you'll be glad to know that the Ministry of Education (MOE) said it has "no intention" of reducing the importance of the mother tongue subject at the PSLE.

Mother tongue weighting in PSLE

If you have been concerned over the governments proposal of reducing the weighting of Mother Tongue in the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE), you’ll be glad to know that the Ministry of Education (MOE) said it has “no intention” of reducing the importance of the mother tongue subject at the PSLE.

In a statement, the ministry stressed that “bilingualism has served Singapore well, and will continue to be a cornerstone” of the education system. This comes after Education Minister Ng Eng Hen met with organisers of a petition against proposed changes that could see the subject take on a smaller weighting at the national examinations. The group was invited to the ministry on Saturday and included former Yes 93.3FM radio deejay Danny Yeo, who had previously expressed concern over the proposed changes on his blog.

There was also good support for the petition, which aimed to highlight the concerns of Singaporeans over the Mother Tongue issue, against reducing the weighting of the mother tongue at PSLE at the Speakers’ Corner at Hong Lim Park on Sunday evening. Organisers said within two hours, about 2,400 signatures had been collected. The petition was organised by over 20 individuals, whose ages range from 20s to 50s, who are still undecided on when to submit their petition to the MOE.

What do you think, should the weighting of Mother Tongue at the PSLE be reduced and how will this change benefit or disadvantage students?

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Written by

Felicia Chin

singaporelanguagegovernment policies