Around 150 parents, grandparents, children and community members united at a forum on Thursday night lobbying to reintroduce Greek to the curriculum at Wales St primary school in Melbourne.

During the ’70s and ’80s we were at the forefront of making sure Greek language was offered in schools, but in the past 15 years there has been a decrease in teaching in those sectors.

Labor member for Calwell, Maria Vamvakinou, and Australian Greens member for Northcote, Anne Martinelli, were also in attendance backing the cause.

The decision was made on Thursday to take the issue to VCAT if the department of education does not respond to this campaign.

The parent leading the campaign, Angelo Dritsas, said this meeting was an opportunity to drum up more support from the community as well as kick off a hard copy of an online petition he started in recent weeks.

“We’re hoping we can get some more support from the larger community, hopefully people will offer assistance to the school,” Mr Dritsas told Neos Kosmos.

Despite petitioning and meeting with the Victoria Department of Education in an attempt to reinstate Modern Greek language at Wales St primary school, Mr Dritsas said he has received no response from the school.

The school did release a survey last week asking parents if they were satisfied with current offerings of languages and to list LOTE preferences including options of Greek, Italian, Mandarin and other.

Theo Markos, a Greek Orthodox Community of Melbourne and Victoria (GOCMV) board member and a member of its education subcommittee, said this issue is very important to the Greek community.

“During the ’70s and ’80s we were at the forefront of making sure Greek language was offered in schools, but in the past 15 years there has been a decrease in teaching in those sectors,” Mr Markos told Neos Kosmos.

“We think it is our role to encourage the teaching of Greek whenever possible, especially in Northcote where there’s a huge number of Greek Australians,” he said, adding “we’re keen to maintain our cultural identity and language is an essential part of cultural identity”.

This campaign is part of larger efforts to have Modern Greek included in the national curriculum, Mr Dritsas said.

“The GOCMV was actively involved in the petition that supports the inclusion of Greek in the national curriculum,” he said.

Mr Markos said the aim of Thursday night’s forum was to create public awareness of the issues surrounding Wales St primary, which concerns residents of Northcote, families who previously had children at the school who had the privilege of learning Greek, and younger families who are planning to send their children to the school on the basis that they would have the opportunity to learn Greek.

“We want to make all of them aware of what’s going on and it’s important to go out in a public arena to air concerns and prove to the school’s principal that we’re a strong, vibrant community, and Greek has every right to be taught,” Mr Markos said.

The Modern Greek language at Wales St primary has been a successful program in the past, with 120 children learning Greek as part of the LOTE program last year, Mr Markos said.

“It’s disappointing for kids to not be given the opportunity to learn Greek and this might have an effect on them not taking up the language in high school because you lose continuity,” he said.

Mr Markos said he was happy to see parents taking a leading role.

“Without the input of parents nothing can be done. We want to send a strong, clear message to the school principal and the Department of Education. This is by no means meant to be confrontational, we just want to raise awareness and further our campaign”.