Tuesday, 17 October 2023

Northern Metropolitan Region

Evan MULHOLLAND (Northern Metropolitan) (15:42): (463) My constituency question is to the new Minister for Education. In my role as member for Northern Metropolitan Region it has been my privilege to work with the huge Sikh community in my electorate, whose first language is Punjabi. I would particularly like to shout out to Paramjit Singh Grewal, the president of the Sri Guru Singh Sabha gurdwara in Craigieburn, which does important work providing food for the less fortunate and assisting new Victorians in their transition to Australia. The Punjabi population continues to grow in Melbourne, and many Punjabi families now have school-aged children. It is, I think, natural for every parent to want to pass on their language to their children and ensure the continuation of their culture. It begs the question why the Punjabi language is not recognised in the Victorian curriculum so community-based schools are able to teach their language to their local community of Punjabi heritage. So my question is: does the Department of Education have any active plan or consideration to introduce Punjabi into the VCE curriculum? If not, why not?