Community Language Victoria is set to expand its syllabus to preschool-aged children, with demand for community language schools increasing significantly since the initiative was launched in 2015.
Minister for Education, James Merlino said a funding boost of $7.5 million would go to community language schools, which provide out-of-school-hours programs to help children learn or maintain their heritage language.
“Until this funding boost, accredited community language schools have been able to apply for funding only for school aged students using their service,” Mr Merlino said.
“Now, the funding is being extended to pre-school children with 22 schools already registering interest to roll out the program,” he said.
Mr Merlino said the community language schools syllabus would be expanded to preschool-aged children because there had been demonstrated benefits for children learning their mother tongue at a young age.
“The funding is also boosting the amount available for each child from $215 to $245 and helping meet the growing demand for places at these schools,” he said.
He said the number of students had increased by more than 3,500 since 2015 to almost 39,000 in 2019.
Mr Merlino said the funding would also improve professional development for staff at the schools.
