NSW Education Minister Adrian Piccoli has announced that finally, ten years after the NSW indigenous languages policy was introduced, Aboriginal languages will be offered as a HSC subject from 2016.
The minister made a statement at the Menindee Central School today:
“This new course will help maintain this critical part of Aboriginal cultures.“Menindee Central School is a Connected Communities school and already teaches Paakantji. The new course enables students to continue their studies into years 11 and 12 and I look forward to other schools joining them.”
The move has taken a decade of planning, and out of 35 languages in NSW, 19 are currently be offered as language courses across the state. Previous to this decision being made, students could only take Indigenous language courses from kindergarten to Year 10.
The HSC course is a ‘content-endorsed course’, which means it won’t count towards a student’s ATAR, but the course has way more flexibility. The syllabi is created in collaboration with multiple indigenous communities, according to the needs of the students.
The NSW Minister for Aboriginal Affairs Leslie Williams said this:
“This course will aid Aboriginal young people to become the future custodians and caretakers of their languages and empower them to maintain a strong sense of identity. For non-Aboriginal young people it will provide them with a deeper understanding of the world’s oldest living culture.The partnership between the school and their local Aboriginal community will enable knowledge holders to provide expertise and guidance to classroom teachers.”
via SMH.
Image: Andolu Agency via Getty.
