The Wire

The Northern Territory has released a draft update to its controversial policy on language in schools. In 2009 the Territory introduced a compulsory ‘first 4 hours in English’ policy. The new policy has signaled that the territory government isn’t backing down on its emphasis on English, and one expert says that the policy removes any possibility of indigenous literacy programs running in school time.

Dr Brian Devlin is a bilingual education expert from Charles Darwin University. He says that the territory’s policies have quashed important creative enclaves where indigenous staff and indigenous artists had become central to the education of young children in their communities.