Thursday, 12 September 2024

Vietnamese language education

Trung LUU (Western Metropolitan) (18:48): (1158) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Education and is regarding Vietnamese language education. The action I seek is for the minister to commit additional funding for the teaching of the Vietnamese language in our education system. ViệtSpeak, a language education advocacy organisation based in Melbourne’s western suburbs, have detailed their great concern around underfunding of Vietnamese language education in our schooling system. The Vietnamese community is one of the fastest growing communities in Victoria. It is currently the third most spoken language in our state after English and Mandarin; however, in a state like Victoria, which promotes multiculturalism, the Vietnamese language is undersupported in the public education system, even though this is one of the fastest growing communities.

Although the number of Italian speakers in Victoria is lower than the number of Vietnamese speakers, there are 241 Italian language programs in state schools, compared to 11 for Vietnamese according to 2020 figures from the Department of Education and Training. This represents a failure by the state government to serve the Vietnamese-speaking community. The Western Metropolitan Region is the home of many people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities. Nearly 18.5 per cent of residents in Brimbank City Council alone speak Vietnamese as their main language. Therefore providing a robust Vietnamese language education is not a luxury but a necessity if ongoing language loss, as recent studies indicate, can occur in one generation.

Instead of allocating $216 billion to the Suburban Rail Loop in the east, the minister could direct some funding towards a Vietnamese education program in communities that desperately need this support. So I ask the minister: will you provide adequate and clear-cut funding for the Vietnamese community for Vietnamese language education within our education system to prevent language loss and maintain the culture and diversity of the western suburbs?