SINGAPORE — Being a lover of Tamil, Mr Jeyarajadas Pandian often racked his brains over ways to stimulate students’ interest in the language.

And over the years, the 59-year-old educator has come up with several novel approaches, such as getting students to sing along to Tamil songs, including original pieces that he wrote.

“The students listened to the songs and were spelling the Tamil words, and the results in learning Tamil were much better,” said Mr Jeyarajadas, who has been teaching for 35 years and was among those who received promotion letters from the Ministry of Education yesterday.

“The songs in the Singapore context were very much welcomed by the teachers too — they started teaching Tamil differently,” he added.

Mr Jeyarajadas, who is now a principal master teacher at the Academy of Singapore Teachers, thought of using music to pique students’ interest in Tamil because he learnt the language this way too. That is why in his typical lessons, students would be singing along to Tamil songs that he sometimes played on the piano himself.

When he had the opportunity to contribute to curriculum planning during a posting to the MOE headquarters, Mr Jeyarajadas also started writing songs with a local twist and incorporated them into learning materials.

The best way to learn vernacular languages, he believes, is to learn through experiences. That is why he set up a DJ booth in a school he was posted to, and also secured a weekly slot at a radio station to encourage his students to speak the language publicly on air.

Another time, he filled a classroom with flowers he bought from Little India. “The students were so excited, pointing to each flower and calling out the name of each flower so naturally,” said Mr Jeyarajadas.

Another who received a promotion letter yesterday was Mrs Christine Kelly, 53. Her sense of fufilment comes from helping students, said the lead school counsellor at Teck Ghee Primary School.

While she has seen a lot in her 10 years as a missionary in poverty-stricken Tanzania before taking on her current job, Mrs Kelly said helping children with complex family issues presents its own set of challenges. For instance, she and social workers spent two years working with a child who faced anxiety and domestic-violence issues.

“It is most satisfying to be able to help the child not just in the academics, but also in their socio-emotional aspects,” she said. Ng Jing Yng