S'poreans split on Mother Tongue weighting

The uproar over the Mother Tongue weighting issue could be easily understood. Mother Tongue teachers would be adversely affected, one core aspect of Singapore's Education system would be greatly impacted, and this issue could open a Pandora's Box.

Firstly, decreasing the Mother Tongue weighting would encourage students floundering in their mother tongue languages to give up studying them. Many students are already taking the easy routes by taking Chinese B etc., and some in universities cannot even speak or write a decent level of Mother Tongue.

Enforcing this change in the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) is especially detrimental, as higher levels of education would be affected by it too. This is especially true for impressionable children.

Mother Tongue teachers would probably bear the brunt of the change. Students may be less interested to take Chinese at higher levels as weightings drop. Consequently, less Mother Tongue teachers may be needed, leading to less promotion opportunities and job chances for Mother Tongue teachers.

One core Singapore policy is multiculturalism, thus maintaining proficiency in Mother Tongue is crucial. Bilingualism would be affected too, as students can take Mother Tongue more lightly, and this could affect future language policies.

A Pandora's Box could result, affecting other academic subjects, or further degenerates Mother Tongue.

Finally, reducing Mother Tongue weighting would also affect the Chinese language adversely. The Singaporean government has been encouraging Singaporeans to increase their Chinese language proficiency for trading in China, so reducing the Chinese language weighting is detrimental for the society.

However, the opposing viewpoint that the weighting should be reduced could be considered carefully.

Most subjects in schools are taught in English, and Mother Tongue is hardly used in Tertiary Education. Mother Tongue languages require substantial time and effort to acquire a decent level of, as examinations test the knowledge of several facets of the (mostly) secondary languages.

Moreover, many students are floundering in their Mother Tongue languages, whereas they excel in other English-based subjects. Such an effect causes many excellent students to suffer in grades, begetting resentment.

Reviewing both viewpoints, I disagree reducing the Mother Tongue weighting as the harms far outweigh the benefits. Although studying Mother Tongue may be difficult, retaining it in the society is fundamental in our multicultural society. Students should learn to take on obstacles instead of taking the easy way out, like giving up when they cannot score well in Mother Tongue, and weighting encourages them to do so.


By Kwee Peng