Great idea, it's a common place thing in NZ where I'm from and everyone is the better for it.

It is an idea that is long on idealism but short on practicality.

It is a question of resources, few schools can hope to do any better than carrying one language through under their LOTE program.

In Primary, our children were obliged to learn Japanese as the only available option. At the nearest public secondary school, Chinese was available or miss out. That is a problem for a start, no continuity to develop proficiency. It was yet another reason why our children went to private schools.

How would you get the teachers to initiate and provide any continuity in an Aboriginal language from class to class at the one level, eg Primary? What about relief for teacher illness and turnover? How is proficiency measured - at secondary level it counts for places in higher education. Or will the Aboriginal languages be non-exam?

Where is the demand from adults to learn Aboriginal languages? How many here have taken the step to keep Aboriginal languages alive if that is the aim?

There is far too much legislating for others' behaviour in Australia. It would seem that there are many bright ideas for schools to implement but bugger all action by adults to model the behaviours they are promoting.

I also understand that they do not want to teach the periodic table until much later. Can someone explain why kids are learning aboriginal culture before learning the periodic table?

Cornflower is right. It's a bad idea. Those in favour of it don't propose to spend their own time and money learning obscure languages they will have no practical use for. They want to use other people's money to compel still other people to learn them.

Learning a language takes a long time and a lot of effort. Most people who study languages at school do not end up actually being able to speak the languages they study. Indeed, a big fraction of those who graduate from 10 years of compulsory education can't even speak, read or write English properly, let alone Pitjanjajara.

But say you are one of the few who would actually learn to speak it. Okay. Now what? Who are you going to talk to in this language that is becoming extinct because of the rarity of its speakers? Are you going to talk about the tunes you downloaded to your iPod? About the latest with the emissions trading scheme?

It would be more to the point to get rid of subjects from the curriculum until those graduating from basic education were able to read and write grammatical English and calculate correctly.

Nina,

I studied the periodic table but it's relevance is what?

One is far more likely to benefit from exposure, to other languages and culture, than science minutiae, that ultimately doesn't relate to day to day reality.

As a child I spoke 2 PNG languages tolerably plus English and pigin fluently. And I experience their cultures.

I only spoke English for over 30 years but the perspectives buried in those languages and cultures are, what frankly, gives me strength today.

The benefit of indigenous children learning, the same from their languages and cultures is immeasurable, not to be missed.

I look around me on OLO and I see angst and narrow thinking from some. Change and/or different opinions clearly irk them. I'd be prepared to bet money, that those people have never experienced anything but Aussie. Therefore they have no secondary point to triangulate from.

Consider the moderates on OLO most have experienced other languages and culture and they appear more complete in themselves, [I'd mention names but foxy might be embarrassed ;-) ] that isn't an accident.

despite the above, I spent 40 years, on and off, trying to find my birth parents, 3 years ago I learned the all the truth and met my niece. (on TV...so much for my dreams of multimedia stardom)

The idea that through xenophobic lack understanding we deny any child that is to me mental cruelty and totally abhorrent. It's a matter of self without it there are problems. Even enlightened self interest tells us that less people with problems = less problems as a consequence for me.

Dear Examinator,

Foxy would never be embarrassed by you.
You speak from your heart - and with
such wisdom!

I've come across a website and if you
and other posters can find the time to
read it - I think it gives an interesting
take on things:

http://www.safecom.org.au/eva-sallis-mch.htm