Pharos lobbies for Modern Greek revival in meeting with Victorian education minister and
Source: NEOS KOSMOS
Victorian government officials were briefed this week on the ongoing efforts to revitalise the teaching and use of Modern Greek by the Pharos Alliance – a group set up to lobby for Greek language learning.
The meeting on Wednesday 28 August, took place at Victoria’s parliament house, where Pharos Alliance representatives Professor Emeritus Joseph Lo Bianco, Dr Stephie Nikoloudis, Despina Sarandis, Theo Markos and Denise Diakodimitriou sat down with deputy premier and education minister Ben Carroll, the parliamentary secretary to the premier, Nick Staikos, and department officials.
Both sides declared a their commitment to work together to revive Modern Greek in the public education system within the state’s framework for multiculturalism.
“One of the most pleasing aspects of the meeting was the evident interest and preparation of the minister and Mr Staikos in Pharos and our research, programs, and efforts to mobilise the whole community,” a representative of the Pharos Alliance told Neos Kosmos.
A principal incentive behind the scheduled meeting was lobbying for regular updates to the Victorian government on the work of Pharos Alliance and seeking support for future projects.
Topics discussed ranged from expanding Modern Greek teaching in government schools, including the need to increase numbers of qualified teachers and incentives to students studying VCE Greek, through to the positive response of early years Greek language programs in pre-schools and bilingual storytimes in public libraries.
Specific mention was made to the value added to Lalor North Primary School’s Greek Bilingual Program by a promotions grant, and Pharos Alliance’s advocacy work to support Greek programs facing challenges, such as those at Northcote High School and Coburg West Primary School.
Pharos Alliance’s work is framed by a Strategic Plan based on the research findings detailed in Professor Joseph Lo Bianco’s book ‘Pharos: The vitality and presence of Modern Greek in contemporary Australia’.
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