Victorian public schools will now teach Hindi and Punjabi after the Labor state government pumped millions into Indian language programs and teacher training.
Deputy Premier and Minister for Education Ben Carroll revealed last week that 18 Hindi and Punjabi teachers would be starting this term, which he said would help meet demand from Indian immigrants, who have been calling for their own languages to be taught in Australian classrooms.
The teachers were given taxpayer-funded training as part of a collaborative effort with Melbourne’s Monash University, Australia’s largest tertiary institution, to create the Languages Methodology Course for Hindi and Punjabi, a one-year qualification.
The 18 graduates received scholarships for the course thanks to a $150,000 investment made by the Labor government, and another $3.5 million is being invested in teaching VCE-level Hindi and Punjabi at three Victorian “beacon” schools.
“The efforts of this talented group of teachers will strengthen intercultural connections in our schools,” Mr Carroll said.
“We’re making sure we have teachers who can meet the growing demand for Hindi and Punjabi teachers in Victorian schools.”
Monash also celebrated the graduation of the inaugural cohort, and said program aligned with their “Monash India Plan” which aims to further develop the university’s links with the South Asian country by “deepening our engagement in education, research and partnerships with industry in India”.
Professor Mary Ryan, Dean of the Faculty of Education at Monash said the program “demonstrates the power of collaboration between universities, schools and government”.
“These teachers have shown tremendous commitment to their profession and their communities. By completing this program, they are equipped with research-informed, curriculum-aligned teaching strategies that will strengthen Hindi and Punjabi education across Victoria and support students to develop language skills, cultural understanding and a strong sense of identity,” she said.
Monash Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International) and Senior Vice-President Professor Craig Jeffrey also offered his belief that language teaching “extends beyond communication skills” and that for many students “learning a heritage language supports identity, confidence and a sense of belonging”.
“Learning a language like Hindi or Punjabi is about far more than just vocabulary; it is a profound act of empathy that fundamentally shifts how we relate to one another and understand the world around us,” he said.
“By empowering our teachers to bring these languages into the classroom, we are not only celebrating the vibrant cultural fabric of Melbourne’s Indian community but also advancing Monash’s commitment to being a truly global university for the Indo-Pacific – one that fosters the deep cross-cultural fluency required to lead and collaborate across our region.”
The university also said initiatives help recognise “the significant contribution of the Indian diaspora to Victoria’s multicultural society” and the programs signal “that languages such as Hindi and Punjabi are valued and respected as part of the state’s cultural and educational future”.
Monash said Punjabi and Hindi are currently the fourth and eighth most-spoken languages in Victoria, while the state has the highest Indian population of any Australian territory or state, with more than 170,000 people in Victoria who speak Hindi and Punjabi, according to census data.
Header image: The first cohort of Monash Hindi and Punjabi teachers (Monash University).
The post Victorian schools get Hindi and Punjabi classes to meet ‘growing demand’ first appeared on The Noticer.
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