{"id":6232,"date":"2009-12-17T23:02:58","date_gmt":"2009-12-17T15:02:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/?p=6232"},"modified":"2009-12-17T23:02:58","modified_gmt":"2009-12-17T15:02:58","slug":"merging-tamil-spm-subjects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/indian\/2009\/12\/17\/merging-tamil-spm-subjects\/","title":{"rendered":"Merging Tamil SPM subjects"},"content":{"rendered":"
This is an interesting article by Mr Muthurasan. He echoes two things which I’ve said earlier: scrap Moral and merging the two Tamil papers into one at SPM level. I still think that there should be some time allocated for proper study before the 10, or 10+2, or 12 subject limit is implemented.<\/div>\n
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http:\/\/malaysiakini.com\/news\/120058<\/a><\/p>\n

Merge Tamil language, literature to solve impasse<\/strong><\/p>\n

R Mutharasan
\nDec 17, 09
\n1:59pm<\/p>\n

There is no doubt that Tamil literature at the SPM level must be saved\u00a0at all costs as there are many compelling reasons to retain it. Indian\u00a0students should be given an opportunity to choose their own\u00a0preferential subjects in addition to their core subjects especially if\u00a0the preferential subject is their mother tongue. There should not be\u00a0any hindrance to them in taking those subjects in the name of\u00a0‘capping’.<\/p>\n

Worst still, in the name of solving the problem there should not be a\u00a0system of ’10 + 2′ whereby the student taking Tamil language or Tamil\u00a0literature is given ‘second-class’ treatment<\/span><\/strong> by saying that the\u00a0subjects if taken outside the maximum 10 would not be considered for\u00a0scholarships and CGPA grading.<\/p>\n

I firmly believe that only a person who went through Tamil school at\u00a0the primary level and took Tamil as a subject at the SRP\/SPM\/STPM\u00a0examinations would be able to understand the issue better.<\/p>\n

Although many Indian students go to Tamil schools for their primary\u00a0education, only few excel in Tamil literature because in Tamil schools\u00a0they only learn the subjects in the Tamil language but are not given\u00a0enough exposure in Tamil literature content.<\/p>\n

It is only when the family consists of Tamil scholars or enthusiasts\u00a0willing to walk the extra mile to encourage their children to learn\u00a0more about literature that the student develops an interest in the\u00a0subject and ends up taking Tamil literature at the SPM level. Of\u00a0course, there are also many Tamil school students who excel in Tamil\u00a0language or literature out of their own interest and love for the\u00a0language without any parental and family support.<\/p>\n

The interest and enthusiasm of the Tamil school student for Tamil\u00a0language comes to an abrupt end when he enters secondary school. Here,\u00a0there is no opportunity at all for him to continue his Tamil education\u00a0and many libraries in secondary schools do not even have Tamil books\u00a0on their shelves.<\/p>\n

Poor condition of POL classes<\/strong><\/p>\n

The only option for the enthusiastic Tamil school student to continue\u00a0with his Tamil education is to attend the POL (People’s Own Language)\u00a0classes. Again most secondary schools nowadays do not provide POL\u00a0classes efficiently and even if provided the poor condition of POL\u00a0classes at our secondary schools are well known and needs no further\u00a0explanation.<\/p>\n

Even if the POL classes are properly conducted by a qualified teacher,\u00a0Tamil school students are grouped together with those coming from\u00a0national schools and because of the imbalances in proficiency, Tamil\u00a0school students are unable to improve their Tamil language by\u00a0attending POL classes.<\/p>\n

In conclusion, by attending a POL class, a Tamil school student\u00a0doesn’t acquire anything more than what he had already acquired\u00a0through his Tamil school education.<\/p>\n

With all these obstacles, Tamil school students, through the support\u00a0of family members and Indian NGOs providing Tamil tuition, go on to\u00a0take Tamil as a subject at the SRP level and later at the SPM or STPM\u00a0levels.<\/p>\n

However, it is only at the SPM level, the student is given a choice of\u00a0two subjects in Tamil, one in Tamil language and the other in Tamil\u00a0literature. It is only at the SPM Tamil literature level that a\u00a0student is given a taste of the rich Tamil literature through a proper\u00a0examination syllabus. Therefore Tamil literature at the SPM level\u00a0becomes important to a student who intends to further his knowledge\u00a0and education in Tamil.<\/p>\n

A survey would show that most students who take Tamil literature at\u00a0the SPM level also end up taking Tamil at the STPM level. At the STPM\u00a0level, there is only one subject in Tamil but it also covers the\u00a0literature component. Therefore it can be seen that SPM Tamil\u00a0literature is also a training ground, providing the confidence to\u00a0students to take Tamil at the STPM level.<\/p>\n

It is students who take up Tamil at the STPM level who end up filling\u00a0up the Indian quota in Malaysian public universities since most of\u00a0them get good grades in Tamil at the STPM level which helps them\u00a0increase their CGPA grading thereby landing them a place in a public\u00a0university.<\/p>\n

Fall and rise of SPM Tamil literature<\/strong><\/p>\n

Even though they are interested, many Tamil school students have been\u00a0avoiding taking Tamil literature at the SPM level because they feel it\u00a0is a tough subject to score and takes up a lot of time of study\u00a0because of the literature content. It is also an additional burden to\u00a0them if they are already taking nine or 10 subjects including Tamil\u00a0language. Most Tamil school students who opt for science stream do not\u00a0take Tamil literature because of the heavy load of content in science\u00a0subjects.<\/p>\n

Many parents also do not encourage their children to take Tamil\u00a0literature at the SPM level as they feel taking one subject in Tamil\u00a0is more than enough. By the time a student reaches SPM, the parents\u00a0also become confused as to what extent they should give priority and\u00a0importance to Tamil as a subject even though their love for the\u00a0language is unquestionable. The general feeling is that concentrating\u00a0on other core subjects and scoring a good overall grade is more\u00a0important than concentrating on Tamil language or Tamil literature.<\/p>\n

Another reason students avoid Tamil literature is that there are not\u00a0enough study materials to assist them. It is also difficult to get\u00a0someone qualified to teach you on the subject. Therefore there is a\u00a0vast difference in the number of students taking Tamil language and\u00a0Tamil literature at the SPM level.<\/p>\n

Coupled with these and many other reasons, it is not a surprise that\u00a0in 1998 the number of students taking Tamil literature dipped to a\u00a0mere 300 or so<\/span><\/strong>. When there were indications that the subject may be\u00a0scrapped completely from the SPM list due to lack of students taking\u00a0it, the Indian community sprang into action.<\/p>\n

Many Indian NGOs and Tamil enthusiasts encouraged students to take\u00a0Tamil literature and some Tamil scholars came forward to provide\u00a0tuition for these students without any consideration for remuneration.\u00a0Study materials were also prepared by qualified teachers to assist the\u00a0students. Parents were also coaxed into encouraging their children to \u00a0take Tamil literature as a subject to further the student’s knowledge\u00a0and in the process, to preserve the subject at the SPM level.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

With all the efforts put together, the number of students taking Tamil\u00a0literature soared to more than 4,000 by the year 2008<\/span><\/strong>, a remarkable\u00a0achievement indeed.<\/p>\n

It is this particular aspect that the Indian community is irked and\u00a0irritated about. When the number of students taking Tamil literature\u00a0was dwindling, the Education Ministry and in fact even MIC leaders did\u00a0not do much to improve the situation. It was the Indian NGOs and Tamil\u00a0enthusiasts who in their own capacity took it upon themselves to\u00a0increase the number of students taking Tamil literature without any\u00a0political or government assistance .<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

But when their efforts are bearing fruits now, just with a stroke of\u00a0the pen, the ministry and in particular, the education minister, are\u00a0killing the spirit and enthusiasm of Indian students who are eager to\u00a0take Tamil literature despite all the obstacles.<\/p>\n

Merge Tamil language and literature<\/strong><\/p>\n

The time has also come for the Indian community to rethink about the\u00a0subject in the context of changing educational needs of the student.\u00a0We need to apply rational thinking, taking into consideration the\u00a0modern trends in education together with the burden for the student to\u00a0be torn between Tamil language and Tamil literature.<\/p>\n

One of the best solutions to overcome the current impasse would be to\u00a0merge Tamil language and Tamil literature into one paper at the SPM\u00a0level.<\/p>\n

With this change, most of the students wishing to take Tamil at the\u00a0SPM level would be able to take the subject within the ‘maximum 10\u00a0subjects’. Furthermore, if the student wants to take Tamil outside the\u00a0maximum 10 subjects then the student should be allowed to drop Moral\u00a0studies (which is compulsory now) in order to take the Tamil paper.<\/p>\n

This means that Moral studies subject would become optional for those\u00a0students willing to take Tamil and compulsory for those not taking\u00a0Tamil. The Education Ministry should appreciate that it is more\u00a0important for the student to take his own mother tongue rather than\u00a0moral studies.<\/p>\n

The ministry should also appreciate that Tamil literature whether\u00a0modern or classical, have one of the highest moral values in their\u00a0subject content. Classical literatures such as ‘Aathi Choodi’ and\u00a0‘Naladiar’ are in fact highly regarded texts on moral values. Let us\u00a0not forget ‘Thirukkural’ which has been translated into so many\u00a0languages and today stands tall as the epitome of all moral values a\u00a0piece of literature can offer.<\/p>\n

Even modern literatures by Tamil scholars like Mu.Varatharasan have\u00a0always been appreciated for promoting moral values and some of his\u00a0works have been included in our Tamil syllabus at the SPM and STPM\u00a0levels.<\/p>\n

All such books and other Tamil literatures put together would be able\u00a0to convey the moral values much more effectively to a student than\u00a0what the ministry intends to provide through their Moral studies\u00a0paper.<\/span><\/strong> Therefore, by having only one Tamil paper at the SPM level and\u00a0by making Moral studies optional, the current impasse could be\u00a0overcome easily.<\/p>\n

The Indian community should also appreciate that Tamil Literature in\u00a0this country had been preserved and taken to the next level by Tamil\u00a0writers and poets who enriched the local Tamil literature through\u00a0their writings and contributions.<\/p>\n

Many of our most notable Tamil writers and poets did not enhance their\u00a0language skills by taking Tamil literature at SPM or STPM levels. All\u00a0their basic interest and knowledge in Tamil language came from their\u00a0Tamil school education. Therefore Tamil literature in this country\u00a0would evolve by itself and would remain forever in this country\u00a0through the enthusiasm of many writers as long as there is Tamil\u00a0school education. It doesn’t matter whether there is Tamil literature\u00a0at SPM level or not.<\/p>\n

Therefore the emphasis should be on Tamil education at Tamil schools\u00a0and not on Tamil literature at SPM level.<\/p>\n

R Mutharasan is an observer and writer on Malaysian politics and\u00a0Indian issues. He is the web-master of\u00a0www.indiantoday.net<\/a> and has\u00a0also authored the book “Winning Strategies of Anwar Ibrahim”.<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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This is an interesting article by Mr Muthurasan. He echoes two things which I’ve said earlier: scrap Moral and merging the two Tamil papers into one at SPM level. I still think that there should be some time allocated for proper study before the 10, or 10+2, or 12 subject limit is implemented. http:\/\/malaysiakini.com\/news\/120058 Merge […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[19],"class_list":["post-6232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-indian","tag-education"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6232"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6232\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6233,"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6232\/revisions\/6233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}