For the first time ever, over 5,000 preschool kids across Victoria will get a chance to learn Punjabi for 3 hours every week so they can get the most out of their early learning years.
The Victorian government has allocated $17.9 million for the ‘Early Childhood Language’ program, which will give the opportunity to 150 kindergartens to offer weekly sessions in 15 languages, with a roll-out beginning from 2019.
“We also think it is important that in such a multicultural state such as Victoria, the children have the opportunity to learn the language of their parents and their grandparents,” Jenny Mikakos, Minister for Early Childhood Education told SBS.
“We are living in a very globally connected world and so we need to make sure that children have the opportunity to learn a language other than English at the earliest opportunity.”
Another 10 kindergartens will be able to offer a bilingual program, which means 7.5 hours per week from the 15 hours of kinder program for four-year-old children.
Kinders across Victoria will get a chance to learn a language other than English Source: SBS
Other than Punjabi, language lessons will also be imparted in Mandarin, Arabic, Italian, Japanese, French, Greek, Hebrew and Spanish.
“From ‘yiasas’ to ‘ni hao’ – we’re giving our children the chance to be immersed in the wonderful languages of the world and it’s terrific to see that Oakleigh kids will be among the first to benefit from this amazing program,” said Steve Dimopoulos, Member for Oakleigh. 
The choice of which language to teach has been guided by communities, kindergartens’ interests and the availability of qualified teachers.
Young kids learning Punjabi Source: SBS
As part of the program, additional staff will be hired to teach children a new language in partnership with the existing staff – at no additional costs.
A linguistic studies research by Harvard University has confirmed the younger the learner, the better it is.
The research further indicates that earning an additional language at an age as young as three, increases critical thinking skills, creativity and flexibility of the mind in young children-so why wait?
SBS is celebrating a love of learning languages in Australia in our SBS National Languages Competition from 15 October to 18 November. For the first time, this year’s competition is open to Australians of all ages who are learning a language, including those learning English. To find out more, visit
