The Age: by Russell Skelton and Jewel Topsfield
AUSTRALIA’S human rights watchdog has accused the Northern Territory ALP government of threatening the existence of the world’s “longest surviving continuous culture” by severely restricting the teaching of Aboriginal languages.
Tom Calma, the nation’s race discrimination commissioner, said yesterday that the decision to mandate four hours of English in a five-hour school day would destroy bilingual teaching programs and prevent written culture being passed on to future generations.