The Turnbull Government will expand its successful Early Learning Languages Australia (ELLA) program into more preschools and schools in Barker.
Member for Baker encouraged Baker preschools and schools to get on-board and give their students the opportunity to learn a second language.
“The Early Learning Languages Australia (ELLA) program has already been very successful in getting local students engaged and interested in learning a language,” Mr Pasin said
“There are already 16 preschools in Barker engaging 487 young children through a series of interactive applications to introduce them to the basics of learning a second language like Mandarin, French and Spanish.
“I encourage Barker parents to talk to their preschools and schools about getting involved in the expansion of the ELLA program.
“I’ve visited a number of pre-schools that are already part of the program and I was really impressed with the enthusiasm of the children. It’s a valuable program that is helping teach some very valuable skills.
“Learning a second language opens up a whole new world of opportunities in this increasingly global economy and we need more Barker students to develop language skills early in life and then carry that through their later school years and beyond.” Mr Pasin said.
Minister Birmingham said the Turnbull Government’s commitment of an additional $11.8 million would see the number of preschools participating double to 5000 and extend the program into 300 primary schools reaching 30,000 school-age students across Australia.
“We’ve already seen some great results from the ELLA program, with more than 80,000 children in about 2,500 preschools across Australia being introduced to a second language through the use of our digital apps, “Minister Birmingham said.
“ELLA is about getting kids engaged and interested in learning a language from an early age, expanding their horizons and hopefully getting them to follow through this study as they progress throughout their education.
“Exposure to another language and culture can also have significant developmental benefits on children – for example it has been linked to better English and problem solving skills.
“We’re also expanding the language options to include Korean, Vietnamese, Turkish and German.
“These new languages mean preschools and schools in Barker can pick from 13 of the world’s most common languages to give children a taste of the world and set them up with skills that will set them up for the future.”
Early Learning Languages Australia (ELLA) uses fun and play-based digital applications to engage children in language learning and is currently available in Hindi, Modern Greek, Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), French, Indonesian, Japanese, Italian, and Spanish.
For more information on ELLA visit: https://www.ella.edu.au/
