The negative and positive side of the issue.

Definitely there will be pros and cons if the Ministry of Education reduce the weight of Mother Tongue in examinations like the PSLE.

By reducing the weight of the Mother Tongue language will benefit students who come from English-speaking homes. It helps to lessen their stress and work load. English is also a common language used to communicate with other people in the whole wide world, rather than Mother Tongue. For example, all examination papers are written or printed in English and not in any other language. Singapore has always been encouraging foreign talents, thus more foreigners tend to stay in Singapore permanently. When foreigners start studying in Singapore, and start taking Mother Tongue as one of their subjects, they'll tend to struggle because it's not one of their native language. Some people also feel more comfortable in their second language because their mother tongue might be very limited and does not provide a large number of words or expression.

The negative side on reducing the weight of Mother Tongue is that it will not benefit students who are more fluent in their Mother Tongue, than in English. Singapore is a multi-ethnic society and Mother Tongue is used to indicate the language of one's ethnic group regardless of race, religion and social background. Mother Tongue expresses each culture of society to the complete satisfaction of it's members. It also indicates the identity and sense of belonging of each person.

Since our education system prides itself on meritocracy, I, therefore, think that reducing the weighting of Mother Tongue will undoubtedly go against it. In conclusion, the Ministry of Education should not reduce the weight of Mother Tongue.

-Kimberley