The Department of Education is to develop a curriculum for Hindi, Korean and Tamil to be taught in schools from pre-primary to Year 12 levels.
Minister for Education and Training, Sue Ellery said the pre-primary to Year 10 syllabuses for both Hindi and Korean would be adapted from the curriculum developed by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) with Year 11 and 12 syllabuses for the two languages developed in Western Australia.
Tamil is to be fully developed in the State for Pre-primary to Year 12.
Ms Ellery said language and culture played important roles in a child’s development.
“We have an internationally diverse culture in Western Australia and these new subjects will give schools the opportunity to offer a broader choice to students in their local area,” Ms Ellery said.
“Western Australia’s engagement with Asia is a State priority, and giving students the opportunity to engage with these additional languages will set them up for jobs in the future.”
Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Interests, Paul Papalia said with more than 190 languages spoken throughout the State, linguistic diversity was one of Western Australia’s greatest strengths and provided social, cultural and economic benefits.
“The addition of Hindi, Korean and Tamil to languages taught at Western Australian public schools will work with the Government’s Community Languages Program,” Mr Papalia said.
“The Community Languages Program, administered by the Office of Multicultural Interests, provides support and funding for language programs in the community.”
He said these programs were often staffed by volunteers and provided language and cultural maintenance programs.
“This announcement means dedicated students of these programs will now have an opportunity to expand their learning in a school environment,” the Minister said.
