Under the Territory Government’s controversial changes to bilingual education, all students will learn in English only for the first four hours of the day from next year, notes ABC. A report released in Canberra by the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies states there is no evidence to suggest the policy will [...]
Australia: In 2003, at the Kalkaringi Community Education Centre, a bush school on what was once known as Wave Hill station, teachers George and Robyn Hewitson put the first remote area indigenous students – 3 of them in total – through year 12. They put another three through in 2005.The six received only basic certificate [...]
New Zealand: The Kingsland school now offers bilingual Samoan classes to pupils from bilingual primary schools such as Richmond Road School in Ponsonby, and Rosebank Primary in Avondale. John McCaffery, senior lecturer at Auckland University’s faculty of education, is among the team conducting the research, and says, “It helps deliver quality English, quality Samoan and [...]
Australia: Britain’s colonial empire may be long gone, but the language that helped run and often unite it has helped build an empire of a different kind. This English language empire needs to be nurtured and protected by universities in English-speaking countries such as Australia, Britain and the US if it is to survive and [...]
New Zealand: The parents of five Christchurch primary school children say they have nowhere to go next year after plans for an intermediate-level bilingual class were put on hold, according to Radio NZ.
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Australia: Northern Territory Education Minister Marion Scrymgour has buckled to a backlash from the bush in her bid to force teachers in remote Aboriginal schools to teach predominantly in English, notes TheAustralian.com. Ms Scrymgour said yesterday that a requirement to teach the first four hours in English would be negotiated with each of the Territory’s [...]
Australia: The Territory Government says from next year all schools will teach in English for the first four hours of each day. It is facing a revolt from remote teachers who vow to continue teaching in Aboriginal languages, despite the order to teach in English. Award-winning teacher Yalmay Yunupingu said yesterday she would refuse Departmental [...]
Australia: Minister Marion Scrymgour has repeatedly said there is no evidence to show that bilingual schools accelerate English literacy. But two reports by her own department have surfaced. Both say schools that teach young indigenous children in their own language in initial years, and gradually introduce English, ultimately achieve better English literacy outcomes.
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Australia’s Race Discrimination Commissioner says bilingual teaching is one of few success stories in the recent history of Northern Territory education.
Tom Calma says the Northern Territory Government is ill-advised to implement restrictions on traditional language teaching in bilingual schools. The new policy starts at the beginning of the 2009 school year (as noted in [...]
Something very worrying is happening in the Northern Territory, notes website Crikey.com. The NT Minister for Education recently announced that indigenous languages can not be used in NT classrooms, except for one hour a day in the afternoons. This announcement has come as a shock to the indigenous community schools which use a bilingual program.
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