Call to teach Kaurna at every city school

THE Kaurna language should be taught in all Adelaide schools to both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students, experts say.

Aboriginal students who learn their traditional language become more confident, have more pride in their identity and find a passion for learning, a committee heard yesterday.

For non-Aboriginal students, learning the language of their Aboriginal peers promotes a higher level of cultural understanding.

Representatives of the Kaurna Warra Pintyandi group provided evidence of the value of teaching Aboriginal languages in schools to the Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs inquiry into language-learning in indigenous communities.

Kaurna language teacher Jack Buckskin said this year he was teaching at two schools but knew of many more who wanted to teach their students Kaurna – but the teachers and resources were not available.

Elder and educator Dr Alitya Rigney said there were three issues standing in the way of having the Kaurna language taught in more schools – a lack of teachers, resources and funding.

“It’s so important for our kids to learn the language of their ancestors from the beginning to the future,” she said. “It’s like you are pouring in strength, identity, culture and power.”

Dr Rigney said she hoped the inquiry would result in a government policy that would allow every school to teach the Aboriginal language of that area.

“We need a place of our own, a language centre; we need lots of resources and we need the ability to employ enough people to specifically teach the language,” she said. This was echoed at the hearing by representatives of other SA Aboriginal languages.

Federal Labor MP Shayne Newman, who chaired the committee, said recommendations were due in the second half of the year.

He said through the hearings it was clear that ensuring access for Aboriginal students to learn their ancestors’ language was vital to closing the gap.

“While I can’t foreshadow what (measures) will be, they will probably include more funding, more co-ordination of efforts and more whole-of-government approaches,” Mr Newman said.