Education in Singapore (Part 3: Malay/Tamil)
About Project
This project looks at Malay- and Tamil-medium education in Singapore. A wide range of interviewees ranging from principals to teachers, curriculum specialists and students were interviewed about their contributions to and experiences of Malay- and Tamil-medium primary and secondary education in public schools as well as madrasahs in the pre- and post-war periods.
In the area of Malay-medium education, some areas covered include the closure of Malay language schools and kampong schools in the late 1960s and 1970s such as Sekolah Kota Raja, Kampong Melayu Primary School, Geylang Malay Girls’ School and Telok Kurau Malay School; the formation of the Singapore Malay Teachers’ Union, the history and development of PERGAS (Association of Islamic Teachers of Singapore) and the development of madrasahs in Singapore.
In the area of Tamil-medium education, we have a number of interviews with principals and teachers who had taught in Tamil primary schools. Topics covered include their memories of school days, their responses to policy changes transforming Tamil to a second language, Tamil curriculum development and the Teachers’ Tamil Union.
