Community Language Schools

Ms HOOD (Adelaide) (15:08): My question is to the Minister for Multicultural Affairs. How are community language schools assisting our young people to stay connected to culture, and how is the state government supporting these endeavours?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON (Ramsay—Minister for Tourism, Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (15:08): I thank the member for Adelaide and recognise her commitment to her diverse electorate, many of whom are involved in community language schools. There are 94 community language schools in South Australia, and they are supported mostly by volunteer educators and community leaders who want to make sure that language and culture are passed on to both their children and their grandchildren.

When I was the shadow minister for multicultural affairs, I noticed in my conversations with people that they would often have challenges keeping young people involved, whether it would be about the size of the school, the curriculum or where it was located.

We know as a government that being bilingual is an asset for South Australians. As we look to the future, whether it be trade or increasing our international education, if you speak more than one language it gives you many opportunities in the future not just here in Australia but in the world as well. That is why a key part of our election policy was a $4 million increase to community languages. When the Premier and I announced this, it was widely welcomed, and it was welcomed because it gives a true support and a true commitment to this incredibly important part of our community.

Different issues have been raised, and I met with Darryl Buchanan, who is the executive officer, and his chair, Binh Nguyen, who donates his time to run the Community Language Schools Association. Issues have been raised with us about locations of host schools, skilled educators, training equipment and managing student behaviour. One of the key things is how we keep young people involved in these language schools, particularly when they hit high school, when they have other areas that interest them and they feel like it is something you just do when you are in primary school. But we know that if you go on and do SACE I and II then you are more likely to go perhaps on to university and study this language and be fluent in it.

We also want to assist new and emerging communities as they look forward to registering to be a community language school. At the moment, it is a very big jump from going from a volunteer, very small group who are supporting young people in their language, to actually registering to be a community language school. Particularly if you are a new arrival group and English is not your first language, this is even more challenging.

I continue to talk with both the community and the association who is leading this work, and I look forward to coming back to parliament to talk about this election commitment and how we will roll it out.