Victorian public schools are welcoming 18 new Hindi and Punjabi language teachers this term, in a move the Victorian government says will help meet rising demand and give more students the chance to study the two languages at school.
The new cohort is the first to graduate from Monash University’s one-year Languages Methodology Course for Hindi and Punjabi, with their training supported by a $150,000 state government scholarship program.
The announcement marks another step in Victoria’s push to expand Hindi and Punjabi teaching across the public system. It builds on the government’s earlier $3.5 million investment in three beacon schools offering the languages at VCE level: Alkira Secondary College in Cranbourne North, Wyndham Central Secondary College in Werribee and Mount Ridley P-12 College in Craigieburn. Those schools have also been tasked with supporting other teachers and schools looking to develop Hindi and Punjabi programs.
For many Indian-Australian families, the expansion is likely to be seen as more than a curriculum update. It is also a recognition of language, identity and belonging in one of Australia’s most diverse states. The Victorian Government says learning languages other than English helps multicultural students stay connected to their heritage while also improving literacy and communication skills. Government figures, drawn from census data, show more than 170,000 Victorians speak Hindi and Punjabi.
Deputy Premier and Minister for Education Ben Carroll said the new graduates would help deepen cultural understanding in classrooms, saying their work would “strengthen intercultural connections in our schools”.
“We’re making sure we have teachers who can meet the growing demand for Hindi and Punjabi teachers in Victorian schools.”
In last year’s announcement of the VCE rollout, Carroll also said the program was helping connect students with “the rich heritage of India” while broadening access to language study.
The government says Hindi and Punjabi are among the fastest-growing languages in Victorian schools and that the latest intake of teachers is part of a wider effort to build specialist language teaching capacity. It has also flagged a new four-year Language Teaching Scholarship Program from Semester 2 this year, aimed at helping more teachers upgrade their qualifications and move into language education.
As Indian-origin communities continue to grow across Melbourne’s north, west and south-east, the arrival of trained Hindi and Punjabi teachers could prove important in turning community demand into a stronger and more permanent place for the languages in Victoria’s public education system.
Support our Journalism
No-nonsense journalism. No paywalls. Whether you’re in Australia, the UK, Canada, the USA, or India, you can support The Australia Today by taking a paid subscription via Patreon or donating via PayPal — and help keep honest, fearless journalism alive.
