The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Education has presented the ‘Security and Prosperity in Asia: Building Australia’s Asia capability’ report of its inquiry into building Asia capability in Australia through the education system and beyond.
Committee Chair, Hon Tim Watts MP, said “Australia faces its most challenging strategic environment since the Second World War. Our security and prosperity are intertwined with our region.
While Australian statecraft in Asia has never been more active than it is today, the pipeline building the capability that enables it is in crisis,” Mr Watts said.
The Committee found that a key issue affecting the current teaching of Asian languages and cultures is the fragmentation across the education system and a lack of coordination between the skills and knowledge that schools and universities impart and how this is connected to the needs of Australia.
Pathways for Asian language studies through schools are broken and there are few incentives for students to continue their studies into university. The career opportunities which Asia capability can create are not visible to students. The lack of coordination across jurisdictions means that students’ exposure to Asia is often the result of a single passionate teacher, sheer luck, or personal initiative.
The Committee has made 34 recommendations to re-prioritise Asia within the education system and to ensure all Australians can learn about Asia and its languages, including:
- A National Asia Capability Strategy, accompanied by a National Data Framework and Dashboard on Asia capability
- The development of Asia Leader Schools to act as a hub of best practice for language education for schools
- The establishment of an Australian Schools in Asia (ASIA) Consortium to support schools to facilitate in-country immersion and exchange programs in Asia
- Mechanisms to support the recognition of heritage language acquisition in the classroom
- Targeted interventions to support Asian language teachers, increase the supply of specialist teachers, and ongoing professional development and support
- The inclusion of Asia capability within the strategic priorities to be set by the new Australian Tertiary Education Commission for the tertiary education sector
- Protections for nationally strategic priority Asian languages in university funding agreements, and
- Designating Asia capability as a priority area in selection criteria in employment opportunities for central government agencies.
The report and further information about the inquiry is available on the inquiry website.
