Students at public schools in New South Wales will be able to study Hindi, Punjabi and Tamil from next year with five additional languages added to the curriculum. The announcement has led to renewed calls for all Australian students to be forced to learn a second language.
Hindi, Punjabi, Macedonian, Persian and Tamil have been added to the Community Languages Program in New South Wales.
From next year, the languages will be on offer from kindergarten to year 12.
Director of the Sydney Institute of Community Language Education, Doctor Ken Cruickshank says it's a welcome move as Australia has long ranked poorly when it comes to embracing foreign language learning.
"Australia is about the lowest uptake in languages in all OECD countries. It's such a shame because in actual fact we've got the most, the greatest number of languages in the community but what happens is the kids go to school with the language and often lose that by the time they get to year 12."
Sydney based mother of young boy Swapna Sharma says she is delighted with the decision.
"We have taught our son Hindi at home so that he can talk to his grandparents and understand the culture of our motherland, but now he will be able to learn to write and read Hindi."
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