❓ The Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Interests provides an update on the Community Languages Program, highlighting increased funding, expanded reach, and program improvements after a review identified inequities.
AnsweredQoN 775Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
COMMUNITY LANGUAGES PROGRAM
775. Ms E. EVANGEL to the
Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Interests:
Given the importance
of community languages in our multicultural society, can the minister please
update the house on the changes that have been implemented in the state
government's community languages program?
775. Ms E. EVANGEL to the
Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Interests:
Given the importance
of community languages in our multicultural society, can the minister please
update the house on the changes that have been implemented in the state
government's community languages program?
AnswerView source ↗
I first thank the
member for not only the question but also her participation and experience in
this.
As members know, the
state government has had a community languages program that was designed to
assist non-profit organisations to teach languages other than English after
school and in their communities. It has been going for 30 years. As people in
this house will remember, it had not been reviewed for a long time and there
were serious problems with the program. I undertook a review into the program
last year and found that about $1 million had been allocated to the program, of
which 80 per cent was allocated to a single language in a single group—unfair!
Most of the money was going not to community language programs but to
supplement programs in schools, both public and private, which already receive
substantial amounts of money from the state government to assist in language
teaching. We undertook a review of this program. We started out in 2015 by increasing
the allocation per child in after-school care from $65 to $100. We had a
professional development program in which over 400 participants from community
language programs came and participated, with $119 000 allocated to it. In the
last couple of weeks, I announced a couple of grants to the formation of new
schools' programs and program development for existing schools,
totalling $150 000 between the two. We also started a school accreditation
program, because one of the problems we found from feedback from the community
was that teachers did not have accreditation. This is very important because
the community languages program provides an essential mechanism to teach
languages not only for communities but also the wider community, particularly
languages that are not taught at schools and TAFEs. What we have done from the
previous year to this year is reallocated and increased the amount of money
going to community language schools by 400 per cent from $250 000 to $1 million.
We have also increased the number of schools. In the previous year, we had 29 schools
teaching 3 400 children in 18 languages. In this coming year, we will have 70 schools
teaching 6 000 children in 43 languages. That is a massive improvement.
The members opposite are laughing and giggling, but this is an essential
program for a multicultural society. It is an essential program for new
migrants and old to teach their culture and language to their children and also
—
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for West Swan, I call you to order for the first time. I
want a short answer, minister.
Dr
M.D. NAHAN : This is the difference between us and them. We see inequity in
a program and we address it. They talk about inequities; we actually address
them.
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for West Swan, I call you to order for the second time.
Have you finished, minister?
Dr
M.D. NAHAN : Yes.
member for not only the question but also her participation and experience in
this.
As members know, the
state government has had a community languages program that was designed to
assist non-profit organisations to teach languages other than English after
school and in their communities. It has been going for 30 years. As people in
this house will remember, it had not been reviewed for a long time and there
were serious problems with the program. I undertook a review into the program
last year and found that about $1 million had been allocated to the program, of
which 80 per cent was allocated to a single language in a single group—unfair!
Most of the money was going not to community language programs but to
supplement programs in schools, both public and private, which already receive
substantial amounts of money from the state government to assist in language
teaching. We undertook a review of this program. We started out in 2015 by increasing
the allocation per child in after-school care from $65 to $100. We had a
professional development program in which over 400 participants from community
language programs came and participated, with $119 000 allocated to it. In the
last couple of weeks, I announced a couple of grants to the formation of new
schools' programs and program development for existing schools,
totalling $150 000 between the two. We also started a school accreditation
program, because one of the problems we found from feedback from the community
was that teachers did not have accreditation. This is very important because
the community languages program provides an essential mechanism to teach
languages not only for communities but also the wider community, particularly
languages that are not taught at schools and TAFEs. What we have done from the
previous year to this year is reallocated and increased the amount of money
going to community language schools by 400 per cent from $250 000 to $1 million.
We have also increased the number of schools. In the previous year, we had 29 schools
teaching 3 400 children in 18 languages. In this coming year, we will have 70 schools
teaching 6 000 children in 43 languages. That is a massive improvement.
The members opposite are laughing and giggling, but this is an essential
program for a multicultural society. It is an essential program for new
migrants and old to teach their culture and language to their children and also
—
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for West Swan, I call you to order for the first time. I
want a short answer, minister.
Dr
M.D. NAHAN : This is the difference between us and them. We see inequity in
a program and we address it. They talk about inequities; we actually address
them.
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for West Swan, I call you to order for the second time.
Have you finished, minister?
Dr
M.D. NAHAN : Yes.
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