Singapore Tamil Youth Conference 2018 Toolkit Toolkit 2018 Final | Page 19

In a survey conducted by YJC amongst
several students in 2016 for their annual
Tamil Pre-university Seminar, a high
percentage of them were motivated to
study Higher Tamil because of the bonus
point incentive at GCE ‘O’ Levels and an
exemption from H1 Tamil at Junior
College.
Informal means of engaging with Tamil
beyond GCE ‘O’ Levels
Student productions in JCs, Unis and
Polytechnics
•
There are a variety of ways in which
students can pursue Tamil language
beyond their secondary school years:
• National Elective Tamil Language
Programme offered by Umar Pulavar
Tamil Language Centre
• NUS Tamil Studies Module
However, take up rate of the module
continues to be low. No relation to major
and future endeavours. Even if there are
higher education courses in Tamil, (e.g.
Tamil Studies with Early Education
Diploma Course in Ngee Ann Poly), not
many are aware of such courses.
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Examples include Sangae Muzhangu
by NUS Tamil Language Society,
Uthraa by NTU Tamil Literary Society,
Vaanavil by Jurong Junior College and
Nakshatra by Republic Polytechnic.
Such student initiatives display a
passion among youth to further Tamil
language in society and express their
love for the language through
performing arts.
These productions are also open to youth
not belonging to any tertiary institutions to
participate in, hence providing an informal
yet legitimate platform for them to pursue
their passion for the Tamil language.