FATSIL National Manager Paul Herbert is sceptical of the recent education policy announced from the NT Government where only English will be taught for the first 4 hours commencing in 2009.
Mr. Herbert believes that Bilingual Education is merely the scape goat for a whole list of contributing factors.
Please support the preservation of our languages before they are lost forever. Please sign the Petition.
ABC News
On Tuesday November 18th 2008 ABC News reported the Federation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Languages are petitioning the Government to step up measures to preserve native languages. Read more at: ABC News
A meeting with Jenny Macklin and several reporters in a remote Aboriginal Community in the Northern Territory has left many community residents very angry.
TO THE HONOURABLE SPEAKER,
MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
This petition of citizens from Australia and overseas both Indigenous and Non-Indigenous draws to the attention of the House that we are alarmed at the rate of unchecked language loss in Australia. Over 250 vigorous and vibrant languages on record at the time of European arrival in Australia have been reduced to just 17 which are being transmitted naturally to younger members of their communities. Some other languages are still spoken fluently but the vast majority are in varying states of decline and disrepair. There are also vigorous efforts across the country to maintain and revive languages, in some cases to re-introduce them after many decades of non-use.
TO THE HONOURABLE SPEAKER,