The Australian Ambassador to Greece, Mrs Jenny Bloomfield farewelled 13 Australian teachers of Greek last week during an official function held at the Aristotle University in Thessaloniki.
The teachers have been undertaking an intensive study program of Greek language and culture at the Aristotle University’s School of Modern Greek Language under the Australian Government’s Endeavour Language Teacher Fellowships (ELTF) program.
The ELTF program, part of the broader Endeavour Awards, provides opportunities for practising and trainee languages teachers to improve their language and cultural skills through an intensive in-country study program. For the first time since 2005, Greece has been included in the 2012 ELTF program.
The visit to Greece comes as the Australian Government has identified Greek as a foreign language to be taught at Australian schools as part of Australia’s first national curriculum.
“These visits demonstrate the Australian Government’s commitment to languages education in Australian schools and to the importance of young people learning a language” said Mrs Bloomfield.
“Greek is one of Australia’s major community languages, spoken at home by some 250,000 Australians, and among the top ten languages studied at Australian schools – a reflection of the significant contributions the Greek community has made to the cultural and social development of Australia”.
Greek was identified for inclusion in Australia’s first national curriculum as one of the most commonly spoken languages at home in Australia, also supported by community schools. This is an important development for the maintenance of the Greek language among the Greek Australian community in addition to community schools.
In addition to their studies, while in Greece the teachers also visited the Museum of Royal Tombs of Vergina, the Museum of Greek History and Meteora.
