On Wednesday, August 28, Pharos Alliance representatives Professor Emeritus Joseph Lo Bianco, Dr Stephie Nikoloudis, Despina Sarandis, Theo Markos and Denise Diakodimitriou met with Victorian Minister for Education & Research, also Deputy Premier, Ben Carroll and Member for Bentleigh, Nick Staikos MP, as well as officials from their respective departments, at Parliament House.
It was a cordial and productive meeting with both sides declaring that they will continue to work together in the interests of revitalising Modern Greek in the public education system and supporting broader and inclusive multicultural principles.
One specific aim of the meeting was to establish a practice of providing updates to the government on the work of Pharos Alliance and to seek support for future projects.
Many topics were discussed including : concerns for the current state of Greek in government schools and hopes for future expansion; the value added to Lalor North Primary School’s Greek Bilingual Program by a promotions grant; the advocacy undertaken by Pharos to support Greek programs which are facing challenges, such as those at Northcote High School and Coburg West Primary School; the strength of Early Years Greek language programs in pre-schools and bilingual story times in public libraries, which can create pathways for future learning all the way to tertiary level; the need to increase the number of qualified teachers of Greek in Victoria; initiatives to maintain and grow numbers of students studying VCE Greek; how the Pharos Alliance has collaborated with other communities facing similar challenges and how our operating mechanism can be a model that others could follow; and, the importance of maintaining Greek as part of a commitment to multiculturalism even beyond its claim to cultural and intellectual claims to presence in the school curriculum.
One of the most pleasing aspects of the meeting was the evident interest and preparation of the Minister and Mr Staikos in Pharos and its research, programs, and efforts to mobilise the whole community.
The Pharos delegation thanked government officials for the opportunity to meet and said they look forward to continuing the dialogue.
Pharos Alliance is a broad-based alliance of community stakeholders dedicated to the revitalisation of the teaching and use of Modern Greek in schools, in homes and in the community. Its work is framed by a Strategic Plan based on the research findings detailed in Professor Joseph Lo Bianco’s book ‘Pharos: The vitality and presence of Modern Greek in contemporary Australia’.
