Help on ML exemption

[peterch]

Please check here : http://www.moe.gov.sg/education/admissions/returning-singaporeans/mother-tongue-policy/


List of SAP Schools from MOE Website:

Anglican High School
Catholic High School
CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls’ School
Chung Cheng High School (Main)
Dunman High School
Hwa Chong Institution (High School Section)
Maris Stella High School
Nanyang Girls’ High School
River Valley High School
Nan Hua High School

If these are not your DS target, then exemption should be fine.

[poots]

I’ve a S1 kid in a Band 1 SAP school & a P6 one who is exempted from MT. The S1 kid is doing MT, not HMT (among a minority in this school).


If you have a genuine case for exemption, I think you should go for it! All the more as I gather Chinese is not even your child’s MT!! A poor CL grade will REALLY affect the PSLE score (especially as over 80% of the cohort gets A/A*). Getting U grade (<20%) means automatic retention. Running on 3 subjects, a kid cannot expect to top the Nation, but up to 260+ is possible and many schools including top ones like RI / RGS (but not SAP) accept them thru DSA or thru MOE posting exercise.

Your child can always pick up CL at his own pace after PSLE, and sit for exams a few times (many kids do O Levels CL separately from other subjects anyway - and sitting for it twice is also quite normal). Those who argue that this is unfair do not understand that some kids have a genuine basis for exemption, and that MOE makes provisions for them. If the MOE panel of specialists has approved the exemption, no one has the right to judge you harshly. What can I say … surely a one-legged child should not be expected to compete with able-bodied 2-legged children in running. If you need further advice, do msg me. Been there, done that.

[Aberc]

How is the t-score calculated for students with only 3 subjects?

[jacsplace]

We are Indians but we don’t speak, read and write Tamil or any other Indian language. The only language we are fluent in is English.


My children take Tamil as their MTL and are struggling with it. This subject is affecting their ability to cope with the other subjects.

My husband and I would like to exempt them from MTL, particularly as there is no value in learning Tamil, at least in Singapore where everything is in English and Mandarin.

Can anyone advise: what our chances of successfully getting exemptions from MTL? What are the disadvantages of doing so? Will our children be penalised in any way?

[poots]

You can try writing to MOE with your reasons. You have a good chance if the children have been studying overseas as returnees can get exemption easily. If you are unlikely to go overseas, you can try to get the children tested by a psychologist about possible "Tamil" dyslexia. It costs about $500 but MOE may not grant exemption if the dyslexia is very mild. The thing is, many kids who take Chinese for MT also do not speak Chinese to anyone at home, and some of them are not even Chinese (in my child’s "SAP" school there are Malay, Indian & Eurasian kids who speak very good Chinese). Most kids I know have Chinese tuition.


Kids who are exempted are not really penalized, apart from not being able to go to SAP schools where Chinese is compulsory. However, if they do well enough at PSLE to qualify to learn a 3rd language in secondary school, and they choose to do so, they will have to offer this as a 2nd language and will not be allowed to drop it later. A big advantage of exemption is that they are deemed to have satisfied the MT requirement for entry to local university, and will be exempted all the way through sec sch / JC. They might get penalized in the job market though.

For kids who don’t do so well at MT, the other way of getting into a school of choice is to aim for Direct School Admission - using talent in sports, aesthetics or excellence in a particular subject. Although there will be a written test, this is usually only English & Maths, and most of them do not test for MT. But getting a place through DSA is a double-edged sword cos you will not be able to change schools once you accept an offer.

I don’t know how the PSLE scores are calculated. Obviously if the child is failing at MT, getting an exemption will boost his PSLE scores tremendously. I know many kids who were exempted from MT made it into top IP schools including ACSI, Raffles etc.

[Musings]

Hi


Can someone shed some light on the criteria for exemption from MT?

Because I have a younger child (still in preschool) who has speech delay and is seeing KKH speech therapist on a monthly basis. Based on child development unit doctors in KKH, he does not have other developmental issues but just speech delay. Of course speech therapy is to work only on his English pronunciation. But he also has problems distinguishing and speaking the 4 sounds of chinese characters.

Have been seriously considering exemption from MT - but not sure if he will qualify or what supporting documents (psychologist report?) is required. I have only heard of those with Asperger or autism who manage to obtain exemption.

would appreciate some feedback from those who had obtained MT exemption. Thanks.

[jacsplace]

Thanks poots. I don’t think my kids have Tamil dyslexia. I think they are just not interested and frankly I can’t blame them. There really is no value in learning Tamil in Singapore where everything is done mainly in English and Mandarin. Nobody needs to know Tamil in order to survive in Singapore, so really what’s the point of studying it?

[lurline]

Hi musings,


My eldest son who is in P4 now, had a similiar case as your child. He was diagnosed with speech delayed for 2-3yrs when he was in K1 and had speech therapy in KKH and SGH before he joined P1. He does not have any other problem except speech delayed. He also cannot distinguish han yu ping yin sounds. I thought that he will overcome this problem over time as his case according to his therapist is consider mild. However, he suffered when he joined primary school. His first year result was 30 for Chinese. I gave him intensive tuition for chinese and he managed to score 50+ in P2, 70 in P3. His paper 2 is fine but he cannot make it in oral and writing, always fail.

I can pursue further assessment to diagnose him and maybe he can be exempted from taking Chinese in future but I prefer him to work hard in this area now. He works extremely hard and spend hours doing chinese. He is just an average student or below average for Chinese but he has learnt an valuable lesson through his hard work. Now he knows that he just have to put in more hours to practise compared to his friends.

Getting an exemption will make things easier and let him focus on his other subjects though. Right now, he is lucky that he breeze through Maths and Science but I’m not so sure abt next yr, P5 is a big jump, I heard.

Just sharing…

Thks!

[thetinyseed]

Musings:

Hi


Can someone shed some light on the criteria for exemption from MT?

Because I have a younger child (still in preschool) who has speech delay and is seeing KKH speech therapist on a monthly basis. Based on child development unit doctors in KKH, he does not have other developmental issues but just speech delay. Of course speech therapy is to work only on his English pronunciation. But he also has problems distinguishing and speaking the 4 sounds of chinese characters.

Have been seriously considering exemption from MT - but not sure if he will qualify or what supporting documents (psychologist report?) is required. I have only heard of those with Asperger or autism who manage to obtain exemption.

would appreciate some feedback from those who had obtained MT exemption. Thanks.

As long as you have either a psychologist or in your case, a speech therapist report, you can apply for MT exemption. This is not guaranteed. But if you strongly feel your child should be exempted, you will need to \"fight\" your case. If your child starts P1 without approval for exemption, the school teachers may recommend exemption if your child is struggling to cope.

[mom-of-2 0]

poots:

Kids who are exempted are not really penalized, apart from not being able to go to SAP schools where Chinese is compulsory. However, if they do well enough at PSLE to qualify to learn a 3rd language in secondary school, and they choose to do so, they will have to offer this as a 2nd language and will not be allowed to drop it later. A big advantage of exemption is that they are deemed to have satisfied the MT requirement for entry to local university, and will be exempted all the way through sec sch / JC. They might get penalized in the job market though.

It's not true that MT exempted kids are excluded from SAP school. My daughter's classmate in NYGH is exempted from MT although she apparently enjoys all other Chinese related classes such as wushu, Chinese dance and Chinese speech and drama.