NSW Arabic Language Competition

Hansard ID: HANSARD-1323879322-123958

Hansard session: Fifty-Seventh Parliament, First Session (57-1)

NSW Arabic Language Competition

Mr MARK COURE (OatleyMinister for Multiculturalism, and Minister for Seniors)

——Speaker, I rise today to recognise the University of Sydney's first ever Arabic Language Competition. In NSW, Arabic is the third most spoken language after English and Chinese, demonstrating the rich multiculturalism that NSW and Australia is so proud of. During COVID-19, Ken Cruickshank the Director of the Sydney Institute of Community Language Education ran training programs for around 700 language teachers with the aim of bringing together as many Arabic teachers as possible so that they could share their knowledge and skills. Following this, the first Arabic Language competition was held where over 170 people entered to speak about why people should learn Arabic. Speaker, this fantastic initiative demonstrates the importance of understanding and promoting Arabic language schools and teaching as it is crucial to ensuring our society is as multicultural as it can be. I would like to thank Mr Cruickshank for having me and wish him all the very best with any future Arabic language competitions.