Thread: Arson Threat Forces Kindergarten To Axe Arabic Lessons.

Absolutely I have to agree with John about the Irish.

I would have had a hell of a time if I came home in a relationship with a Catholic, particularly an Irish one. Now everyone seems to celebrate St Patrick's day.

It will likely be the same with the Arabic speakers in Australia, but maybe it will take a generation or two. Do we really want to take the attitude of exclusion of Arabic speakers and create fertile ground for those who will corrupt the minds of the young?

Originally Posted by disco man

Article by Christie Anderson.

A Townsville kindergarten has cancelled plans to offer Arabic language lessons after an ugly backlash from racist community members. Wishing Tree Early Learning Centre cancelled the language program and hired security at the premises after receiving racist threats via social media to burn the centre down. Local leaders yesterday slammed the threats as 'gutless' and 'intolerant' while police are investigating. The centre had planned to offer Arabic language lessons next year after being named as a trail site for the federal government's $9.8 million Early Learning Languages Program. The centre's manager said the children's safety was the top priority. John Wall from Total Childcare Solutions,which manages the centre,said the owners,who are expatriate Australians living in Abu Dhabi,wanted to share Arabian culture with their Australian students. "The family understands the sensitivity around offering children language by way of Arabic," he said. "The family did not want to cause grief to any parents. That being the case,the family has asked the centre to pull the Arabic language. "We will choose another language to ensure all parents are happy."

The centre was preparing to train staff to deliver online Arabic tutorials. The one-year trial aimed to test the effectiveness of exposing preschool children to a language other than english,with Mandarin,Japanese,Indonesian,French and Arabic among the options considered. Police confirmed the matter was being investigated. The Australian Department of Education said the threats were a concern but would not say if Arabic would be withdrawn. Herbert MP Ewen Jones said the threats were "disgusting" and "gutless". I just hope the police catch them and prosecute them he said.

For the life of me i can't understand why the Government would spend such a large amount of money on teaching kids another language when they should be focusing on learning how to speak English properly. With tensions running high in society why would this kindy even consider offering Arabic lessons to kids? Absolute stupidity.

From what I can see of the program, the Government determines which language is taught. The 5 chosen, including Arabic, are said to be our major trading partner languages, now & in the future. Normally there shouldn't be a problem with Arabic, but announcing you are going to teach it in the city where a large proportion of servicemen & women have just returned from the Middle East, and where relatives of the KIA are still living, probably not enough thought went into the announcement. Anyway, F.A.Q. on the scheme;


[ame]http://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/ella_trial_faqs_-_6_nov.pdf[/ame]