7 Dec 2009

Education failure in any language

IN the murky realm of indigenous policy-making, the darkest, most confused region is the labyrinth of initiatives for education in Aboriginal languages and competing proposals for the preservation of Australia's original words and ways of life.

For the past 18 months, since the Northern Territory scrapped its loose commitment to providing initial tuition, at a handful of remote schools, in Aboriginal languages, the flames of reactive controversy have burned bright. Reports have been drafted, new schemes proposed, campaigns waged, all aimed at saving indigenous languages and teaching in those languages, all to little effect.

Read the complete article about languages lost and the precarious situation of othes