e-Paper
MONOLISA
Millennia Institute Tamil teacher Hemalatha Rajarajan believes tech-enabled lessons promote learning in this digital age and collaborative efforts are crucial in raising the standard of Tamil language teaching in Singapore.
The 53-year-old was one of six recipients of the Most Inspiring Tamil Teacher (MITT) Award for their outstanding contributions in the teaching and learning of the Tamil Language.
The awards have been given out every year since 2002 and jointly awarded by Tamil Murasu, the Singapore Tamil Teachers' Union and the Tamil Language Learning and Promotion Committee.
All the recipients are teachers at primary and secondary schools and pre-university institutions.
Mr Thandavamurthy Vasanthavelan, 33; Ms Buveneswari Subramaniam, 31; Mr Jeyamohan Ramasami, 56; Mr Joseph Anthony Raj, 40; and Ms Subbu Suba Sakthidev, 41; were the other recipients this year.
Three other teachers received the Best National Institute of Education (NIE) Tamil Trainee Teacher Award and the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Ms Syed Jarina, who received the Best NIE Tamil Trainee Teacher Award, is the youngest among the winners.
The 23-year-old, who recently joined East Spring Secondary School as a Tamil teacher, is passionate about Tamil language and literature.
She stood out during her stint as a student-teacher at NIE as she showed a positive mindset and was always forthcoming when asked to contribute in her subject of expertise.
Mr Samikannu Sithambaram, 74, and Mr Ponnalagu Manickam, 73, received the Lifetime Achievement Awards.
Dr Janil Puthucheary, Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information and Health, was the guest-of-honour at this year's awards ceremony held at the Umar Pulavar Tamil Language Centre on Sept 17.
"Making the learning of Mother Tongue language meaningful, relevant and engaging in today's multilingual and diverse society is a challenge, especially when there has been a recent visible shift towards English at home and social settings" he said.
"The awardees have exemplified the ideals of continuous learning to build their competency and also inspire students to speak and write the language to express themselves."
Dr Janil added that MOE is working to re-invigorate the teaching of native languages and offer various opportunities for more students to study their Mother Tongue more deeply.
He lauded Tamil Murasu's efforts in promoting the Tamil language.
Apart from its daily edition, it also creates publications and online quizzes and games for students.
They include Manavar Murasu, Illayar Murasu and its newest addition Balar Murasu, which is targeted at preschoolers.
"Making the learning of Mother Tongue language meaningful, relevant and engaging in today's multilingual and diverse society is a challenge, especially when there has been a recent visible shift towards English at home and social settings." - Dr Janil Puthucheary
