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Singapore's founding father Lee Kuan Yew has admitted that the city state's bilingual education system has failed and a dramatic new approach is needed to teach Putonghua.

Mr Lee has been involved in a government-appointed committee looking at ways to overhaul the way that Putonghua is taught in Singaporean schools.

The committee, which is chaired by former senior education official Wee Heng Tin, this week unveiled a range of proposals it hopes will bolster Singapore's Putonghua language curriculum.

Mr Wee said the major problem with the current teaching method in Singapore was its focus on memorising Chinese characters,  rather than on speaking and listening skills.

'The way we have been going about teaching Chinese in the classroom has been very much influenced by the way we are actually testing the students,' Mr Wee said. 'I think we know now that this is not the best way to teach our children.'

Former national leader Mr Lee - who now holds the position of Minister Mentor in the government of his son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong - admitted that Singapore's current approach to teaching Putonghua has 'turned off one generation'.

'They are fed up, they are forced by their parents, they are forced by their schools. They hate it,' Mr Lee said. 'They want to have nothing more to do with it, which I think is a tragedy.'

The proposals outlined by the committee are focused on ensuring school children can recognise Chinese characters well before they are taught how to write them.

The language skills of Singaporeans of Chinese origin - who account for more than 75 per cent of the population - have been steadily declining over recent years.

Although the government's Speak Mandarin campaign has been running since 1979, English has increasingly become the language of choice in many homes.

This year, more than 50 per cent of Singapore children entering primary schools came from homes where English was the main language, up from around 20 per cent in 1988.

But all students in Singapore must still learn a 'mother tongue' language to graduate.



Lee Kuan Yew admits failings in Singapore's teaching of Putonghua