Sada-e-Watan
Sydney ™
sadaewatan@gmail.com
Premier Hon. Gladys Berejiklian MP
Community Language Schools will be
benefit from Grants of the Government of New South Wales
(Exclusive to Sada e Watan by; Mr. Warren John Duncan)
The New South Wales Government has made a significant
re-commitment ($10.18m) to the teaching of community languages across the
state.
In a video message to the Annual Gala Dinner of the NSW Federation
of Community Language Schools, the Premier,Honourable Gladys Berejiklian, said she was
incredibly proud of the teachers, the volunteers, the parents and students of
community language schools “because I know the importance of being a good
citizen but also about being proud of one’s cultural heritage”.
“It is
really incredible that around 600 community language schools exist across the
state and it is really important that we as a State Government support you”,
she said.
The Premier, who learnt her own family language, Armenian, at a
Saturday community language school, told the gathering that “being bi-lingual
today has had enormous benefits and I’m proud of that fact”.
Minister the Hon.Victor Dominello, MP
Premier NSW and the Minister for Education, Hon. Sarah Mitchell, were represented at the dinner by The Hon. Victor Dominello MP, Minister for Customer Service and Minister for Digital, and former long-term Minister for Citizenship and Communities, who announced the Government grant to loud applause.
President of the Federation, Lúcia Johns
The President of the Federation,
Lúcia Johns, welcomed the commitment which, she said, “would
guarantee the continuation and expansion of the organisation’s important work
right across the state”.
The Prime Minister,
Hon. Scott Morrison, also addressed the gathering in a message
in which he paid tribute to the Federation for its “efforts and powerful work
supporting tens of thousands of students as they develop a deeper connection to
their family heritage.
“Language and cultural literacy are ever more
important in our increasingly connected world. For Australia, they are a
vibrant and essential part of our national economy and fundamental to our
vibrant multicultural project.
In thousands of ways, you help strengthen
families and bridge the gap between the generations”, he said.
The NSW Federation of Community Language Schools represents
250 member schools teaching 87 different languages to around 38 thousand
students in 460 locations across the state.
