Melbourne: The Western Australian state has announced to teach Punjabi to students in schools, under which students from pre-nursery (pre-primary) to class 12 will be able to study Punjabi in schools.
Education Minister Sue Ellery said that the concerned department has started preparing for the Punjabi curriculum. From 2024, children here will be able to study Punjabi.
The government has made it mandatory for the children of this state to learn their chosen language from 3rd to 8th standard. The state had some time back included Sikh history in humanities and social education subjects for students of classes V, VIII and IX.
It may be recalled that during the last census in the state, the number of Punjabi speakers was around 20,613, while the number of Hindi speakers was recorded at 11,000 and the number of Gujarati speakers was recorded at around 10,000.