SINGAPORE - A set of fictional characters will debut in the new 2015 Mother Tongue Language (MTL) textbooks to "accompany" students on their learning journey.

The characters will be set in realistic contexts to encourage students to communicate effectively in real-life situations, said Ms Sim Ann, Minister of State for Education at the third MTL Symposium at Suntec Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre on Saturday.

The new textbooks for Chinese, Malay and Tamil have been put together with the recommendations of the 2010 MTL Review Committee in mind. They have a greater focus on activity-based lessons to strengthen pupils' communication skills.

The characters will help to highlight the learning objectives of each lesson and act as role models for the use of the language. The curriculum will be introduced to Primary 1 students next year and rolled out progressively to other levels.