Language program kicks off in Victoria with 100 services on board

One hundred kindergarten services across Victoria have recruited teachers and educators to start delivering language programs, thanks to funding from the Andrews Labor Government.

Minister for Education James Merlino visited Wendouree Children’s Services in Ballarat yesterday to celebrate the milestone for the $17.9 million Early Childhood Language Program and see first-hand how much the kindergarten children have learnt from participating in a Japanese program.

About 40 of these programs, including Wendouree Children’s Services’ Japanese program, will be running in regional kindergartens.

Recruitment is underway for many other kindergartens and the Early Childhood Language Program will eventually be rolled out to more than 160 services and reach 5,000 children each year.

Weekly language sessions of up to three hours will be delivered in about 150 kindergarten services and a further 10 will be bilingual kindergartens, where children will benefit from half their program being offered in a language other than English, as previously reported by The Sector.

Across the state, up to 15 languages will be delivered through this program, including Mandarin, Punjabi, Arabic, Italian, Vietnamese, French, Spanish, Auslan and Aboriginal languages.

“Learning in another language not only helps with improved reading and writing skills but will give children an opportunity to experience new cultures in a more connected world.” Mr Merlino said. 

More information about the languages program is available here.