My constituency question is for the Minister for Children in the other place. Minister, how is the rollout and the operation of bilingual kinders working in my electorate of Glen Waverley?
One of our commitments for the last election was to deliver bilingual kinders across Victoria. Last week 11 new bilingual kinders were announced to be rolled out at the start of next year. I am absolutely delighted to announce that one of the 11 kinders is Brentwood Preschool in Wheelers Hill in my electorate. From 2024 Brentwood Preschool will be offering Auslan, Mandarin or Japanese language programs. I am so proud of my little one, who is finishing kindergarten in the next couple of weeks, and as a result I am glad to see that the Allan Labor government is investing in the education of our youngest Victorians. We know that it is easiest for children to pick up a second language at a young age. Additionally, the program aims to maintain the connection our kids have to their backgrounds and cultures, which I know is something that will be highly valued in my culturally diverse electorate.
I look forward to the minister’s response.
Minister’s Response:
I thank the Member for Glen Waverley for his question and his continued advocacy for improved early learning childhood education and care in his electorate.
The Victorian Government has invested $53.3 million to deliver the Early Childhood Language Program that allows preschool children to learn in a language other than English at kindergarten from 2019 to 2027. This includes the 2023-24 State Budget investment of $3.7 million to establish an additional 11 bilingual kindergartens, bringing the total number of bilingual kindergartens to 21.
Following a competitive selection process, Brentwood Kindergarten was successful in their application to deliver a bilingual kindergarten. All 11 successful kindergartens will now enter into a 4-year funding agreement with the Department of Education and recruit a suitably qualified language teacher to deliver a bilingual kindergarten program from Term 1 in 2024. These kindergartens will also need to select which language to deliver. They will be encouraged to consider a language spoken by their enrolled children or the language delivered at a local school.
Bilingual kindergartens deliver 12 hours of their 15-hour kindergarten program per week in a language other than English. This benefits children by bolstering self-esteem and wellbeing, strengthening cultural identity and fostering deeper connections with different cultures and languages.
Hon Lizzie Blandthorn MP
Deputy Leader of the Government in the Legislative Council
Minister for Children
Minister for Disability
