Asiastralia
October 30th, 2012Via: Telegraph:
All Australian schoolchildren will be able to learn an Asian language under an ambitious plan by Prime Minister Julia Gillard to prepare the nation for the “Asian Century”.
Ms Gillard has committed to 25 far-reaching goals over the next 13 years designed to tighten links with Asia and ensure that Australians are able to exploit the region’s “staggering” growth.
The measures, outlined in a report by a government-appointed taskforce, include offering thousands of scholarships to Asian students, new diplomatic posts across the region and requiring that a third of all company directors and senior civil servants have a “deep knowledge” of Asia. In addition, every schoolchild will be able to learn one of four “priority” languages: Chinese, Hindi, Japanese and Indonesian.
Ms Gillard said the “unstoppable” rise of Asia and its massive new urban middle class was “a transformation as profound as any that have defined Australia throughout our history”.
“This is good news for Australia and it should drive a profound change in our thinking about our economic relationship with Asia,” she said.
Under the long-awaited plan all schools will be partnered with schools in Asia and television stations will be encouraged to present more Asian news and programs. “Children in kindergarten now will graduate from high school with a sound working knowledge of Asia,” Ms Gillard said.
Kids were learning chinese in Wellington, NZ high schools about 10 years ago…
Have you mentioned the plan for an APEC common curreny on this site?