Primary and secondary students in NSW are lagging behind the rest of Australia and the world when it comes to learning a second language, and teachers are placing blame on the education system.

Reported by the Sydney Morning Herald, Ken Cruikshank, the director of the Sydney Institute for Community Language Education, showed concern over the proposed changes to the national curriculum, which would see cultural context cut out of language lessons.

Professor Cruikshank said the current mandated study of an overseas language — 100 hours — is already too brief, and Australia devoted far less time to languages than other countries in the developed world.

“Australia is bottom of all OECD countries in terms of language study, and NSW is bottom in Australia,” he said.

“We are one of the most multilingual countries in the world. Kids come to school bilingual, and end up monolingual in English.”

One in seven students who starts schooling with a language in addition to English continues it to year 12, and just one in 20 from an English-speaking background studies a second language to the Higher School Certificate, Professor Cruikshank said.

A review of the NSW curriculum called for every student to begin learning a second language at primary school rather than high schools. It was one of the few recommendations the state government did not accept nor explore further, simply saying it was “noted”.

Public primary schools are only given funding for a language teacher if there are a significant number of speakers of a particular language in their local community.

A NESA spokesperson told the Herald that as part of the NSW curriculum reform, they were developing new kindergarten to year 6 and year 7 to 10 language curriculum.

“Schools have the option to teach languages in NSW primary schools. Students learn to communicate in a language in real-world contexts and develop intercultural understanding. Through learning a language, students strengthen essential foundational skills for literacy and reflect on their own culture, heritage and identity,” the spokesperson said.

The European Union requires that all EU member countries make sure all children are at least bilingual.

Dean Kalimniou will present a lecture entitled Pontian Genocide Memorial Seminar: William Lloyd and the Liberation of Pontus, on Thursday 13 May, at 7.00pm, at the Greek Centre, as part of the Greek History and Culture Seminars, offered by the Greek Community of Mlebourne.

This is a joint event with the Pontiaki Estia.

While there was little pre-War engagement with Pontus in Australia, one man, William Lloyd, did his utmost to draw attention to the plight of the Greeks of Pontus and call for their independence. His story is as fascinating as is the process of verifying the astonishing events that colour it.

Dean Kalimniou is also a well-known lawyer, poet and short story writer within the Greek community. As a journalist he is popular within the Greek community of Australia through his column in the Melbourne Greek newspaper Neos Kosmos, entitled Diatribe, which has been running since 2001. He has published six poetry collections and has also translated numerous works of prominent Greek-Australian authors from Greek into English. In November 2007, Dean Kalimniou was awarded a Government of Victoria Award for Excellence in Multicultural Affairs.

When: Thursday 13 May, 7.00pm

Where: Greek Centre (Mezzanine Level, 168 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne).

This is a hybrid seminar (speaker will be at the mezzanine level while event broadcast on Facebook/Youtube).

The Morrison government has received severe backlash since they made the decision to close the borders to COVID-struck India, as was the main point of debate on Thursday nights episode of ‘Q&A’.

Q&A guest Mannie Kaur Varma claimed Australians of Indian heritage were not being seen as equals by the Prime Minister, saying she felt abandoned.

“First you grant us exemption to go to India to look after our loved ones who are fighting for their lives, then you abandon us and leave us in a country that is gasping for air,” Ms Varma said.

“What kind of government does that to their own people?

“In 2019 the Prime Minister said Australia is like a fragrant garam masala…for the Prime Minister, is the value of Indians reduced to just our food or does he see us as equals?”

A threat of jail time was raised for those returning from India, yet the Coalition Member for Reid in NSW, Fiona Martin, said the ruling was simply a case of following the health advice available to the government due to the high number of COVID-19 cases in returned travellers from India.

“Last month we saw over 40 per cent of people travelling home from India testing positive to COVID-19,” Ms Martin said, before adding other countries such as the United States (6 per cent) had a much lower rate.

Asked if those of Indian descent in her electorate had expressed similar feelings to Ms Varma, Ms Martin said that was not the case, but they did feel the threat of jail was overly aggressive.

“The penalty is what has been of concern by constituents, not the ban itself,” she said.

“As I mentioned, earlier in the week, I thought the penalty was a little heavy-handed and that part of it was problematic.”

Shadow Minister for Families and Social Services Linda Burney thinks that there are a number of Australians with Indian heritage that are feeling abandoned, expressing her hopes that the repatriation flights are not a “political response to a human issue.”

Ms Martin was quick to refute the notion of it being a political response.

“This is not a political response. This is a health response. This decision has been based on health advice,” she said.

Scott Morrison recently confirmed that the India travel ban is to end on May 15.

“That biosecurity order is working exactly as it was intended to, and that will remain in place with no change until May 15,” he said.

“National Security Committee of Cabinet has confirmed that it will have done its job by then, and as a result we see no need to extend it beyond that date.”