The new institute is one of several proposals being considered by the education ministry’s English Language Task Force, which has yet to announce its recommendations formally. But with the minister already throwing his weight behind the plan, the institute looks certain to get off the ground. When it does, it will ‘build deeper capabilities in EL proficiency training for teachers’, said Ng, and ‘pool much-needed expertise and training resources in [support of] teaching English to bilingual learners’.

That bilingualism, which stems from the fact that Singaporeans are mainly ethnic Chinese, Malays and Indians, has made the adoption of standard English a tricky proposition. But figures highlighted by Ng show that English has dramatically consolidated its position since independence from Britain in the 1960s. Thirty years ago, under a fifth of Chinese students entering primary school were from mainly English-speaking families. Now that figure has reached 60 per cent, with big leaps recorded for the other ethnic groups too. ‘Singapore can aim to become an English teaching hub for Asia,’ said Ng, adding that the government is often asked to provide help in teaching English elsewhere in South-east Asia.