Offering of Mother Tongue Languages (MTL)

Eligibility Criteria for Higher Mother Tongue Language (HMTL) at S1

HMTL is offered in our school. Eligible students may offer HMTL instead of MTL should they meet the following criteria:

The school will also have the flexibility to allow students who do not meet the above criteria to take HMTL if they are assessed to have exceptional ability in MTL and can take HMTL without affecting their performance in other subjects. 

Sec 1 Start-of-Year Juncture 

Students with difficulties coping with the subject have the option to offer MTL at a less demanding level based on their performance at the PSLE. 

Students who have met the above PSLE MTL grade criteria can choose to offer MTL at-level if they prefer. 

Students are offered MTL at a less demanding level only by one subject level (i.e., ‘one level down’) at each juncture. The only exception is for students who were eligible to offer G1 MTL at the start of S1 (i.e. scored AL 7-8 for PSLE MTL or AL B-C for PSLE Foundation MTL) but had chosen to offer the subject at G3 based on PG at the start of S1. If they face difficulties coping with MTL, they can exercise their option to offer G1 MTL (i.e. “two levels down”) in lower secondary, in consultation with the school.

The JC/MI admission criteria are L1R4≤16 and L1R4≤20 respectively, computed with G3 subjects. 

Grade requirements for MTL for JC/MI admissions: 

*Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu are only offered at G3 and G2, and French, German, Japanese, Arabic, Burmese and Thai are only offered at G3. 

Tamil Language (TL)

We do not offer Tamil Language lessons in CVSS. All our TL students attend TL lessons at Seng Kang Secondary School (SKSS). The 2026 schedule for TL lessons is as follows:

The school will register all TL students with SKSS when school reopens, including students taking TL at MDL/LDL.

Students who are interested in taking Higher Tamil Language (HTL) will be assessed by SKSS teachers at the end of Sec 1. If deemed suitable, they will attend lessons at Umar Pulava Tamil Language Centre (UPTLC) every Monday afternoon, 3.00 pm – 6.00 pm.

Non-Tamil Indian Language in lieu of MTL

Indian students who are non-Tamil speakers may apply to offer a Non-Tamil Indian Language (NTIL: Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu). NTIL students must register as soon as possible upon approval at one of the approved NTIL community groups [CG: Bangla Language and Literary Society, Bangladesh Language and Cultural Foundation, Singapore Gujarati School Limited, DAV Hindi School, The Hindi Society (Singapore), Singapore Sikh Education Foundation, Urdu Development Society (Singapore)] and attend NTIL lessons with these CGs. It is also compulsory to sit for examinations set by the Board for the Teaching and Testing of South Asian Languages. 

Asian/Foreign Language as MTL-in-lieu (not as Third Language)

Students are required to learn the AsL/FL privately at the primary, secondary and pre-university levels, as instruction is not provided by MOE. Students are required to provide documentation (e.g. marked assignment, result slip, payment receipt) to the school to show that they are learning AsL/FL regularly. Students are required to take the AsL/FL papers at the GCE O Level examinations or under the Singapore-Cambridge Secondary Education Certificate (SEC). Students are required to fulfil the MTL requirement by attaining the minimum AsL/FL grade for admission into a junior college or centralised institute (D7 or above for GCE O Level). There is no Higher AsL/FL, ‘B’ syllabus or G1/G2 for AsL/FL.

Sec 1 students who have obtained approval at the primary level to offer FL and would like to be on the waiting list for admission to the MOE Language Centre (MOELC) can resubmit their application. Should vacancies arise at MOELC, students will be informed to sit for a readiness test. Admission to MOELC is subject to students passing the test. Students who have not been notified to sit for the readiness test or did not pass the test are required to continue with their private study arrangements.

If you have any queries, please feel free to contact Ms Koh Bee Choo (HOD/MTL) at koh_bee_choo@moe.edu.sg.