Media clippings

Age: Aboriginal language at risk in NT: watchdog http://www.theage.com.au/national/aboriginal-language-at-risk-in-nt-w... 6 Dec 08: "AUSTRALIA'S human rights watchdog has accused the Northern Territory ALP government of threatening the existence of the world's "longest surviving continuous culture" by severely restricting the teaching of Aboriginal languages. Tom Calma, the nation's race discrimination commissioner, said yesterday that the decision to mandate four hours of English in a five-hour school day would destroy bilingual teaching programs and prevent written culture being passed on to future generations." Russell Skelton and Jewel Topsfield
FATSIL: Bilingual Education the Scape Goat http://www.fatsil.org.au/Newsflash/Bilingual-Education-the-Scape-Goat... 5 Dec 08: "FATSIL [Federation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Languages] 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. These factors include but are not limited to hearing loss. A lack of investment in schools and the community. Poor attendance and factors related to the intervention."
RADIO INTERVIEWS:
ABC Radio National: Awaye!: Which way? the future of bilingual education http://www.abcscience.net.au/rn/awaye/stories/2008/2435431.htm 6 Dec 08: "Language death has been likened to the death of a culture, a way of life and the collective identity of its speakers. This week we ask: what is the future of bilingual education in the Northern Territory, where Aboriginal languages are the strongest? There are moves underway to force the Territory's nine bilingual schools to teach the first four hours of each day in English, a foreign language to many students from remote communities. In contrast, Aboriginal communities throughout the rest of the country are attempting to recover their lost languages." [Guests include: Tobias Ngunbe, Marion Scrymgour, Ailsa Purdon, Joseph Lo Bianco, Paul Herbert]
Australian: Aboriginal kids 'risk losing identity' http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24764268-5013172,0... 8 Dec 08: "INDIGENOUS children are not receiving an education that enhances and promotes their Aboriginality, according to one of the nation's first indigenous school principals. In a keynote speech at the opening of an international indigenous education conference in Melbourne, Colin Bourke said Aboriginal children needed to be educated "as Aborigines as well as Australians"... Otherwise, Professor Bourke said, Aboriginal Australia would become just a memory, with Aboriginal people totally absorbed into the mainstream."

ABC: Indigenous language teachers need better training, report says http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/12/05/2439351.htm 5 Dec 08: "The Federal Government's report into the future of Indigenous language programs in schools says teachers need better training to ensure the success of courses into the future."