Issue 8 : Tertiary Level Education of Tamil Language Issue 8 : Tertiary Level Education of Tamil Language
Issue 8 : Tertiary Level Education of Tamil Language
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Pre-Panel Discussion
1 . Is doing Tamil Literature in Junior Colleges detrimental to University application ?
• Many have a misconception that taking Higher Tamil is detrimental to University applications . Many parents advise their children against taking Tamil Studies as it is not in line with the mainstream courses . Parents and students alike think that if you take Tamil , you will either become a Tamil teacher , media broadcaster , news reader , radio jockey , court translator , etc . However , some argued that they got into top courses in Universities despite doing Tamil Literature in Junior Colleges .
2 . What do you expect in a Tertiary level Tamil Education ?
• History-related : Ancient history about Cheran , Chozhan , Pandyan , etc . could be taught . History about Tamils in Singapore could be taught as well . There should be emphasize on the diasporic movement of Singapore Indians , their achievements and the struggle they faced to bring Tamil to this level . These lessons must be made compulsory for all tertiary level students .
• Non-Examinable : The students don ’ t wish to jeopardise their grades . All of us do feel this innate need to be in touch with our culture . That ' s the reason we keep going back to our songs and movies and all that . So if we could learn about our history , a good percentage will sign up .
• If there is no requirement to speak in Tamil .
• For example if you see Tamil literature , they ' re all on classics . They changed the syllabus recently to local literary texts , but it ' s still in pure Tamil . That in itself is a turn-off . So maybe we can bring in short stories in spoken Tamil .
• Lectures and lessons have to be interactive . Teacher can gather ideas from the class instead of just giving resources .
• Not enough avenues for students to learn about Tamil society issues . Tamil teachers need to start discussing world issues in Tamil .