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SINGAPORE: More carrots are in place for students to complete the Malay or Chinese Special Programmes, which are four-year courses for the study of a third language, over and above one's mother tongue.
The Malay Special Programme, introduced in 1986, is particularly important for non-Malays as Singapore makes an effort to engage its Southeast Asian neighbours.
However, statistics have shown that in the last four years, about 80 percent of the Secondary One students who signed up for the Malay Special Programme quit before they reached Secondary Four.
Minister of State for Education Lui Tuck Yew said: "The attrition rates are particularly acute for students transiting from Secondary Two to Secondary Three. In part, I think they are faced with a dilemma of what to choose. Is it CCAs and spending time and effort in those areas? We want more students to continue to the Secondary Four level and complete the Malay Special Programme and the Chinese Special Programme."
To give students some incentives, those who pass their third language at 'O' levels will be awarded two bonus points for admission to junior college.
They can also count the third language score in lieu of a humanities subject.
The students will still have to take combined humanities but if they do better at the third language, they can use that score in counting their L1R5.
There are currently four zonal centres and 14 schools offering the Malay Special Programme, and there are two zonal centres and 11 schools offering the Chinese Special Programme.
Next year, a new Regional Studies Programme will be introduced at Raffles Institution, Raffles Girls' Secondary School, Victoria School and ACS Independent.
Students enrolled in this programme will be taking Malay or Bahasa Indonesia as a third language.
They will also be taking modules related to the history and culture of Southeast Asia.
120 students are expected to be enrolled in the programme each year and of these students, at least 100 could be awarded scholarships worth S$1,000 annually.
The scholarship will be offered in mid-2008 and the eligibility criteria include a potential to excel in the programme.
The scholarship term is two years, after which students would have to demonstrate their capabilities to continue receiving it.
Those who did not get the scholarship at Secondary One can apply again in Secondary Three.
Students will also have the opportunity to go on exchange programmes to neighbouring countries.
Principal of Victoria School, Mr Low Eng Teong, said: "Besides learning the language, we hope that students will be able to gain a deeper understanding of the geo-politics, the social cultural development and also an appreciation of the arts and culture."
Currently, Victoria School will be the only one offering Bahasa Indonesia.
The Regional Studies Programme, together with the language component, is expected to take up about four hours of curriculum time a week.
Minister-In-Charge of Muslim Affairs, Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, said: "If we can have people who speak Malay, especially in decision-making positions, in the business sector and in government, it will be very good in terms of the message we send to the region.
"We cannot forget our neighbourhood, but we must also keep an eye on the global world, therefore Mandarin becomes important for China, Arabic is important for the Middle East and Malay is important for the region."
- CNA/so
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