Singapore Tamil Youth Conference 2016 Manifesto NUSTLS Singapore Tamil Youth Conference 2016 Manif | Page 45

Issue 7: Developing Interest in Tamil Amongst Students
Post-Panel Discussion
Recommendation 1: Change in grading criteria of Secondary School Syllabus
• There is a need to make changes to existing syllabus and exam format. Currently, there is
too much focus on grade, which makes students lose interest in subject. Syllabus can also
be changed to make Tamil lessons more interesting. Take for example, oral examination.
Instead of asking students to describe what is going on in the picture, we can ask them to
narrate a story or debate about an issue.
• Way of educating Tamil has to be changed. Teachers have to treat Tamil as more of a
language than a subject. The emphasis should be on conversing effectively in the
language and educating students on the value of the culture and lifestyle. Some delegates
discussed about the way third languages are taught in Singapore. Many students pick up
foreign languages in Secondary school and at the end of 4-6 years, they are able to speak
fluently in the foreign language. When students can pick up a completely new language in
secondary school, then, mother tongue education should be comparatively easier. Maybe
mother tongue curriculum can draw lessons from third language curriculum and revamp
accordingly.
Recommendation 2: Tamil Teaching Pedagogy
• Need to teach students translation – given that we are a bilingual society and we have
multi-culturalism. There is a general decline in the interest for Tamil as students transit
from secondary to primary school. This could be because of the huge jump in the
difficulty of the language. Hence, more efforts need to be taken to bridge this gap.
Translation exercises would aid in this.
• Pedagogy of approach in teaching. There should be resources at ready disposal to teach a
particular issue. There should be a platform to discuss new evolving issues within the
curriculum. There should be more discussion. Currently, there are mostly boring topics in
Tamil. General themes taught in other subjects (Science, Geography, History, etc.) can be
the focus of discussion. These interesting topics would provide an incentive for people to
talk in Tamil.
Issue 7: Developing Interest in Tamil Amongst Students
PAGE 45