Media Division, Ministry of Information and The Arts, 36th Storey, PSA Building, 460 Alexandra Road, Singapore 119963. Tel: 3757794/5
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SPEECH BY DR TONY TAN KENG YAM, DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER AND MINISTER FOR DEFENCE, AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE RAMAKRISHNA MISSION KINDERGARTEN HELD ON SAT, 5 JULY 1997 AT 4.30 PM AT 179 BARTLEY ROAD
Mr Swami Jagadatmananda
President, Ramakrishna Mission
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and gentlemen
In 1991, when the Action Committee on Indian Education (ACIE), chaired by Mr J Y Pillay met to study the problems of educational under-performance of Indian-Singaporean students, there were concerns within the Indian community that Indian students may not be competing on an even footing in our education system. The Committee identified one of the impediments faced by Indian students to be inadequate pre-school education.
The Committee found that there were some difficulties in mother tongue learning, which needed to be addressed. For example, the majority of Indian children did not receive pre-school preparation in their mother tongue, unlike children from other communities. In 1990, only 2 out of the more than 350 neighbourhood kindergartens offered Tamil as one of the mother tongues available for instruction.
Although most Indian children attend kindergarten, the non-availability of instruction in the mother tongue called for extra effort to learn the mother tongue during their early primary school years. The Committee felt that the time and energy spent catching up on mother tongue proficiency could have been directed at other important subjects such as mathematics.
The Committee recommended that an average of one neighbourhood kindergarten in every 2 constituencies, ie. 40 kindergartens in total, should offer Tamil as a second language. Agreeing with the recommendations of the Committee, the Government took steps to improve pre-school education for Indian students. By 1995, the original target of 40 set by the Committee had been surpassed. Today, there are 45 kindergartens offering Tamil as a second language. SINDA also conducted workshops for teachers who have no formal training in the teaching of Tamil so that they would be more prepared to teach the language at the pre-school level.
The new purpose-built Ramakrishna Mission Sarada Kindergarten, which can accommodate up to 400 students in 2 sessions, is another step in the right direction. Since its operation in 1993, the Sarada Kindergarten has attracted more students than it can cope. This has demonstrated the high demand for quality pre-school education among the Indian community. This positive trend had prompted the Mission to plan for the new building. At the same time, the Sarada Kindergarten also teaches Mandarin as a second language. This reflects the maturity and sensitivity of the Mission in facilitating the early integration of our children in our multi-racial, multi-religious and multi-cultural society.
A good pre-school education is generally recognised as providing an essential foundation in linguistic, numerical and socialisation skills, and creating an eagerness to learn. With this in mind, the new purpose-built kindergarten with a state-of-the-art computer laboratory and library will enhance the capability of the Sarada Kindergarten to deliver quality pre-school education. Apart from the curriculum-based education that is reinforced through computer-aided learning, the students at the Sarada Kindergarten are taught to be self-confident, independent and caring. Good moral values such as respect, courtesy and kindness are inculcated in them through various programmes. The kindergarten aims at nurturing the whole-person talents of our children in the fields of physical, emotional, social and ethical development.
Good pre-school education is especially important for children from disadvantaged home backgrounds. Quality pre-school education can play an important role in overcoming the lack of stimulation or home support in the early years. Appreciating the importance of guiding the children from disadvantaged families from a young age, the Mission runs a clinic and a home for boys from disadvantaged families. It also has a counselling centre for delinquent children, children with learning disabilities and those from broken families. All these initiatives demonstrate the commitment and resourcefulness of the Ramakrishna Mission. I hope that more voluntary welfare organisations will follow the example of the Ramakrishna Mission to help us build a more caring and compassionate society.
I would like to congratulate the Ramakrishna Mission for the completion of an excellent kindergarten. I am confident that the Mission will continue to play a key role in the provision of social welfare and educational services in Singapore. It is now my pleasure to declare the Sarada Kindergarten officially open.
Thank you