FED: NT govt accused of discrimination on bilingual = 2

AAP General News (Australia)
12-10-1998
FED: NT govt accused of discrimination on bilingual = 2

Federal Labor MP for NT Warren Snowdon said the bilingual program had been axed on purely
economic grounds and called on Education Minister David Kemp to intervene.

"To phase out the bilingual education program in Aboriginal schools is a national insult,"
Mr Snowdon said.

"To strip indigenous people of the opportunity to be educated in their own language goes
against every international trend in education."

He said the Papunya, Yuendumu, Galiwinku, Yirrkala, Marungrida, Numbulwar, Milingimbi and
Shepherdson NT school communities were outraged by the decision.

NT Education Minister Peter Adamson said the decision to replace the bilingual programs was
made after consultation with communities who gave priority to English literacy.

"The strong message was that communities wanted good English-as-a-second-language programs
as the fundamental basis for education in Aboriginal communities," Mr Adamson said.

AAP rmg/mfh/kr/it

KEYWORD: LANGUAGE 2 CANBERRA

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