Mr Pritam Singh asked the Minister for Education (a) what was the overall cohort size and of that the total number of students taking Tamil and Non-Tamil Indian languages (NTILs) for each year from 2013 to 2023 for (i) PSLE (ii) N-level (iii) O-level and (iv) A-level examinations respectively; and (b) what is the difference in funding, expressed as a percentage, between Tamil language as an official mother tongue language and each of the other five NTILs per student.
Mr Chan Chun Sing: The Member may refer to Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board (SEAB) press releases, which are published on SEAB’s website annually, for total candidature sizes. For Tamil and Non-Tamil Indian language (NTIL) candidature, the question has been addressed by Parliamentary Question 20 as published in the Circular for Written Answers on 6 February 2024. [Please refer to “Statistics on Students Taking Tamil and Five Non-Tamil Indian Language in 2013 and 2023”, Official Report, 6 February 2024, Vol 95, Issue 121, Written Answers to Questions section.]
The per-student funding for NTILs is around 70% of that for the three official Mother Tongue Languages.
Ministry of Education
26 February 2024
https://sprs.parl.gov.sg/search/#/sprs3topic?reportid=written-answer-15855
Office of the Leader of the Opposition 