Make proficiency in mother tongue an entry requirement for university - March 8, 2006

"I refer to the letter "Stem decline in use of Chinese language here" (ST, March 6) by Mr Heng Cho Choon.

I hope the authorities will revert to the practice of making proficiency in the mother tongue in the O level examination a prerequisite for entering our universities.

In the past, the minimum requirement for mother tongue language was D7 at O level. But this is no longer the case.

I believe the number of students who failed to obtain D7 in mother tongue language at O level is less than 3 per cent. Moreover, not all of them apply to go to the local universities.

So why should the authorities succumb to the demand of a small group of parents and students? Besides, all Singaporeans have the obligation to support and achieve the government's goal to make them bilingual and retain their own ethnic cultures.

Our bilingual policy has made Singaporeans proud. Why not retain the prerequisite and revamp only the mother tongue syllabuses?

Tan Kia Sin"


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