Umar Pulavar Tamil Language Centre

Umar Pulavar Tamil Language Centre (UPTLC) had a humble beginning as a primary school but has evolved into a multifaceted Tamil education centre and a resource centre that functions as an integral part of the Tamil community. In many ways, the history of UPTLC is intertwined with the history of Tamil education in Singapore. Besides being an education centre, it has also become an active community partner by collaborating with various community organisations and hosting numerous Tamil lanugage events. 

In 1945, the St. George’s Road Government Tamil School was established. However, from 1975, due to the dwindling student population, the school began offering Tamil Language to students who came from schools not offering Tamil as a Second Language. To reflect the change, in 1978, the school was renamed as St George’s Road Tamil Centre. Then in 1982, the Centre shifted to the former Beatty Secondary School at 588C Serangoon Road. With that move and some additional facilities, St George’s Road Tamil Centre became St George’s Tamil Language Centre. 

Meanwhile, Umar Pulavar Tamil High School (see Tamil Schools), Singapore's only Tamil high school located at Maxwell Road, was closed in 1982 due to declining student numbers. St. George's Tamil Language Centre was then renamed Umar Pulavar Tamil Language Centre (UPTLC) in 1983, to retain the name of the school, which symbolised an era in the history of Tamil education in Singapore. Later, the teaching and learning facilities of UPTLC were renovated and in 2001, the then Deputy Prime Minister Prof S Jayakumar officially inaugurated the upgraded UPTLC’s premises. He announced that UPTLC would also serve as a National Tamil Language Resource Centre for the promotion of Tamil arts, literature and culture.

To meet the future needs of teaching and learning of Tamil Language, the Ministry of Education proposed to construct a new building with more facilities for UPTLC.  The centre started to function in the new building at No. 2 Beatty Road from 20 June 2011. UPTLC’s new premises were officially opened by Tharman Shanmugaratnam (then-Deputy Prime Minister, Finance Minister and Minister for Manpower) and S. Iswaran (then-Minister at Prime Minister’s Office and Second Minister for Home Affairs, and Trade and Industry). The only Tamil Education Heritage Centre in Singapore was also opened at the UPTLC campus. Since 2020, UPTLC, in collaboration with the National Institute of Education (NIE), has been organising the Teacher Trainee Attachment Programme at UPTLC for NIE trainees to enrich their teaching and learning experiences.



For more information
Doraisamy, Theodore R. 150 Years of Education in Singapore, Singapore: TTC Publications Board, 1969.
Umaar Pulavar Tamil Language Centre. Accessed 1 August 2025. https://www.uptlc.moe.edu.sg/ 

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The information in this article is valid as of August 2025 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. If you have any feedback on this article, please submit here.