Higher Malay and Higher Tamil will be offered to Primary 3 and Primary 4 pupils in all schools, following a successful pilot that began last year.
Both higher language subjects are already offered to Primary 5 and 6 pupils, but will be an option for younger pupils as well to foster deeper knowledge and appreciation of these languages and their cultures.
Higher Malay and Higher Tamil will be offered to Primary 3 pupils from next year, as well as to those in Primary 4 from 2023. This complements existing offerings of Higher Chinese to pupils in Primary 3 to 6.
This was announced by Second Minister for Education Maliki Osman yesterday during a visit to Westwood Primary School, where he observed Higher Malay lessons being conducted.
Westwood Primary is one of the schools in the pilot, which began with 35 schools last year and has 54 this year.
Dr Maliki said: "From the pilot, we have seen that there is value in creating more opportunities to learn mother tongue at a higher level at an early age. Based on the classes I observed, the pupils' interest has been sparked and their language proficiency is quite high. It speaks volumes for their confidence."
He added that pupils will read a lot more literary works and learn more about their respective value systems and cultures through the new curriculum.
Madam Khaizuran Supa'at, who teaches Malay language at Westwood Primary, added that the Higher Malay curriculum allows teachers to stretch high performing pupils to help them reach their fullest potential.
"The topics in Higher Malay are extensions of the normal Malay language curriculum. In Higher Malay, pupils are more exposed to literature and activities that instil critical thinking," she added.
One of her pupils, Iffah Radhiah Mohd Farid, who is in Primary 4 this year, said she enjoys Higher Malay lessons for the extensive group work and exposure to the Malay culture, which makes learning much more exciting for her.
Mrs Jayasutha Vijay, subject head for Malay and Tamil languages at Seng Kang Primary School, teaches Higher Tamil as part of the pilot programme which started at her school last year.
"At first, I was worried the pupils in the pilot Higher Tamil class would be overwhelmed, but I was surprised and happy at how excited they were to learn. They took the initiative to learn about historical stories in the Indian culture at home from their parents and online before sharing what they learnt with their peers," she said.
Dr Maliki, who is also chairman of the Malay Language Learning and Promotion Committee, also launched two books of Malay short stories for Primary 5 and 6 pupils at Westwood Primary yesterday.
The books, part of the Nabil Nabilah Reader Series, were distributed to all primary schools at the start of Term 2 last month.
Comprising localised stories, the series was written by primary school Malay language teachers to promote a love for reading among pupils and to enhance the early development of literacy skills in the language.
Dr Maliki said: "We feel that we should develop interest in the learning of language among our pupils as early as possible, to develop greater interest, understanding and appreciation of their cultures and heritage. Language is really a door that opens us up to our identities, cultures and heritage."
