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LURE OF THE LANGUAGE: Minister of State for Education Lui Tuck Yew and Education Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam outlining the new measures yesterday. -- ST PHOTO: CHEW SENG KIM
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EACH year, about 300 students sign up for Malay as a third language at Secondary 1, but only one in five ends up taking the subject for the O-level examinations.
To get more non-Malays to learn Malay and stay the course, the Education Ministry is offering two bonus points for junior college entry to those who pass Malay at the O levels.
Students can now also use their Malay grade in lieu of a humanities subject for their L1R5 (first language plus five relevant subjects) aggregate score for JC entry.
These incentives will also apply to the 200 non-Chinese students who study Chinese as a third language each year.
The same goes for those taking Bahasa Indonesia, to be offered as a third language from next year.
A Regional Studies Programme, whereby students study Malay or Bahasa Indonesia and learn more about South-east Asia, will also be rolled out next year.
Giving details of these initiatives at a press conference yesterday, Minister of State for Education Lui Tuck Yew said the measures will help groom a group of non-Malays who can 'effectively engage the region'.
The incentives will kick in with the current Sec 3 cohort.
Since 1986, non-Malay students have been able to study Malay as a third language under the Malay Special Programme (MSP), which is offered in 14 schools and four centres.
The Chinese Special Programme (CSP),started three years ago, is offered in 11 schools and two centres.
To give CSP and MSP students continued exposure after secondary school, an elective similar to the Japanese or French A-level elective in JCs will also be introduced.
In his National Day Rally speech on Sunday, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong noted that 'too few' young non-Malays were fluent in Malay or Bahasa Indonesia.
Malay has not been as popular a third language as Japanese, German and French. These three languages draw 1,200 Sec 1 students, or an average of 400 each, a year.
More students also go on to take these languages at the Olevels - about 400 in total, or one in three.
Teachers and students interviewed yesterday felt that the latest measures will encourage more non-Malays to learn Malay.
Ms Latifah Mohamedzen, teacher in charge of the MSP at Bukit Batok Secondary, believes the bonus points will encourage more to sign up.
It may also stem the attrition rate, she added. Many students start to drop out as the lessons begin to clash with their co-curricular activities (CCAs). Some focus on their CCAs as they can get JC entry points for them.
Methodist Girls' School student Ng Tze Shien, 13, chose Malay over other third languages as it was 'more practical'. She thinks the incentives will draw more students.
'Some people may not be good in humanities, but are good in languages. Malay is quite easy to learn as a language,' she said.
hoaili@sph.com.sg
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