Seetha Lakshmi

This project examines the extent that the current syllabus for Tamil includes different varieties of both spoken and written Tamil, and asks how it can be revised with the concerns of the community for the longevity of the Tamil language in Singapore in mind. The project uses a focus group-based methodology to address these research questions. In addition, the ideas of three main consultants were sought. Based on this data, a number of recommendations for syllabus revision and a curriculum of the future are tabled in this paper, including the use of a Standard Spoken Tamil, especially at the lower primary level; and a revision of the weighting for spoken and written Tamil in the curriculum.

This paper critically explains the history of Singapore’s Tamil Language Education, its achievements, challenges, and long-term goals. Internationally, Tamil education contributes as an education model for mother tongue, minority, and heritage languages. Within Singapore Tamil education, Tamil tertiary programmes, Tamil Curriculum, Pedagogy, Educational Research and PD courses has been developed to build Tamil teachers’ capacity in a multicultural context. This paper describes the contributions from various Tamil educational and linguistic dimensions and resources for implementing new initiatives in Tamil Education.