Harmandeep Singh Sunner has taken the top spot in the 2017 New South Wales Higher School Certificate (HSC) for Punjabi Continuers.
Harmandeep was enrolled in Punjabi language learning at the Saturday School of Community Languages, The Hills Sports HS Centre.
He told SBS Punjabi that his score of 92% was enough to put him in top spot in NSW.
"For me it's like the bridge between you getting in touch with your culture and who you are as a person – what forms your identity,” he said in an interview with .
“This is one of the great instances of success that Sikh Youth, who are born and raised in Australia are having in keeping the Punjabi language & culture prosperous in Western Society.
Harmandeep’s father Dr Pavitar Singh Sunner is a renowned orthopaedic surgeon in Western Sydney.
Photos L to R: Harman with his parents at his graduation ceremony, showing his award of excellence in Punjabi, performing Bhangra at RPD function. Source: Supplied
“Harman worked really hard to make this happen. I would urge students from the community to take this course in Punjabi. Learning Punjabi can definitely put them on a socio-educational advantage,” said Dr Sunner.
NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian welcomed the "enormous diversity" of the high school graduates.
"We see... diversity of backgrounds, diversity of schools, diversity of geography and that's what makes today so special. Each of you have dug deep and showed enormous resilience and grit." she said.
The Punjabi Continuers Course was introduced a few years ago into the NSW HSC.
The study of Punjabi provides access to the culture of communities that use the language and promotes understanding of different attitudes and values within the wider Australian community and beyond.
It provides students with access to a rich and diverse cultural tradition developed over a long period of time. This tradition includes poetry, prose, philosophy, traditional folk dance, film, music and meditation.
According to Census 2016 data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Punjabi has emerged as the fastest growing language spoken at home in Australia.
The data reveals Punjabi speaking population has almost doubled in last five years.
The number of Punjabi-speakers jumped from 71,229 (0.3% of the total population) in the 2011 Census to 132,496 (0.6%) in 2016.
Punjabi is also the most common language spoken by people born in India, with over 22 per cent of all Indian-born Australians stating in Census 2016 that they speak Punjabi at home.
A total of 102,661 India born people identified Punjabi as their mother tongue, making Punjabi the most common language spoken by Australians born in India.
With a total of 132,000 Punjabi speakers in Australia, almost four in five (over 78 per cent) were born in India.
