Tamil Nadu - Tiruchi   

A cross-border love for Tamil

— PHOTO: R.M. RAJARATHINAM.

Quite intrinsic: Seated amidst their peers at Campion Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School in Tiruchi on Monday, Singapore students relishing the way Tamil is taught.

TIRUCHI: Seeing is believing! It is so for a group of 20 secondary-level school students of Tamil origin from Singapore, which is in Tiruchi as part of their ‘Immersion Programme’ to gain a first-hand understanding of the way Tamil is spoken in Tamil Nadu, and have an exposure to literary and cultural contexts.

Of them, 15 belong to the Umar Pulavar Tamil Language Centre (UPTLC) attached to the National Tamil Language Resource Centre (NTLRC) functioning under the Ministry of Education, Singapore, and the rest are from Bowen Secondary School.

According to the delegation leader A. Ilango, a teacher at UPTLC, and co-leader Thilahavathy Shankar, member, Tamil Language Pedagogy Work Group of NTLRC and a Senior Teacher at Bowen Secondary School, the students were chosen for the overseas trip based on their proficiency in Tamil language.

Tapping educational resources in Tamil Nadu and exploring how the teaching and learning practices for Tamil language in Tamil Nadu could be adapted to engage the students in their country opting for study of Tamil, one of the official languages there, to learn it effectively encompass their main objectives.

Being third or fourth generation residents of Singapore, most of the students could visualise about Tamil Nadu only through books and cinemas.

For them entering the portals of educational institutions was an exhilarating experience.

After mingling with their peers at Campion Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School and Seva Sangam Girls’ Higher Secondary School on Monday, and a visit to the Tamil University, Thanjavur, on Tuesday, their experience turned out to be enriching as well.

Tamil teachers of host institutions engaged the students for a while and Mr. Ilango also explained how mistakes could be eliminated by conforming to innovative patterns of usages.

Prior to visiting these institutions, they visited places of cultural interest including Rockfort temple and Kallanai.

Their itinerary also encompasses visits to the St. Joseph’s Anglo Indian Girls’ Higher Secondary School and the Periyar Maniammai Schools on Wednesday.

The school students would return to Singapore on June 19.

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