Parents are petitioning to have Modern Greek reinstated in the LOTE program at Wales St Primary School in Melbourne, following cuts last year that saw Mandarin and Greek removed from the curriculum.
“Greek is a community language the decision of the Principal and the school council affects more than the immediate school community, it affects the entire community in the state seat of Northcote,” says parent Angelo Dritsas
Over 135 parents have signed an online petition addressed to State Minister for Education, Bronwyn Pike, requesting that Greek LOTE classes be brought back to the Thornbury school.
A parent leading the campaign, Angelo Dritsas, said the Northcote and Thornbury areas consist of a large Greek community and Greek is a community language, valued by employers and other groups in the area.
“As Greek is a community language the decision of the Principal and the school council affects more than the immediate school community, it affects the entire community in the state seat of Northcote,” he said, adding “as such we respectfully petition the State Minister for Education to step in on behalf of the community on this matter.”
Mr Dritsas and other parents are currently in discussions with the Greek Orthodox Community of Melbourne in Victoria (GOCMV) about starting a higher profile campaign.
Five primary schools in Thornbury all offer Italian LOTE exclusively, Mr Dritsas said, adding that in order to enrol his children into a primary state school with a more extensive LOTE program he would have to send them to Westgarth.
“I’m not sure how it’s come about, these programs should be coordinated to end the duplication in the particular area…we’re arguing it’s a legitimate community expectation that they offer at least one Greek LOTE,” he said.
He said the school currently has one hour a week of Italian LOTE, just to meet the minimum requirement, which is not a very sufficient program.
“I lay the blame for this on the state government for changing the funding arrangements, they should have understood that principals and school councils would take that opportunity to divert those funds elsewhere,” he said.
Mr Dritsas and three other parents whose children were in the Greek program that was cut last year, met with the Assistant General Manager in the Office of Government School Education, Victoria, Carol Kelly, on Monday night.
This meeting was prompted after an initial meeting scheduled between the Victorian Department of Education with the school council, principal and parents went ahead without the parents being informed or invited to attend, Mr Dritsas said.
Mr Dritsas told Neos Kosmos that Ms Kelly admitted funding arrangements had been changed within the last five years, which was perhaps one of the reasons schools were taking this cause of action.
“It seems to be a change in the funding arrangements. Apparently what’s happened is the department no longer offers a separate funding amount for all the languages. They give the schools the equivalent of three hours of LOTE funding based on their number of students enrolled. Now it’s at the principal’s discretion at how they use that funding; they just need to have some kind of a program going,” Mr Dritsas said.
Following the meeting Ms Kelly told one of the parents she had spoken with the school’s principal, Christopher Sexton, and a questionnaire regarding the LOTE program would be released to parents.
Mr Dritsas said Ms Kelly was keen to hear the parents’ views and seemed quietly confident she could find a resolution. However, Mr Dritsas said he was unsure of what the questionnaire would entail.
Principal of Wales St Primary School, Christopher Sexton, told the Preston Leader the school could not continue running three languages without more staff.
“We decided to run with one program and we chose Italian because it was the most popular,” he said. “We’ve got other priorities like literacy and numeracy.”
The school council is currently surveying parents to get their feedback and will review the LOTE program at the end of the year, Mr Sexton said.
A public forum to reinstate Modern Greek at Wales St Primary School in Melbourne will be held at St Georges Greek Orthodox Church Hall, 66 St David St, Thornbury on September 2 from 7pm. All interested persons are invited to attend.
