Bringing Asia to the Home Front: The Australian Experience of Asian Language Education through National Policy

The East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region encompasses one-third of the world’s population and more than one-quarter of the world’s children – around 580 million children in total. The region possesses a stunning variety in geography, culture and political and economic systems and significant diversity can be seen within countries in terms of wealth, ethnicity and language. The EAP region is also diverse in terms of education provision. While some countries have achieved the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 2015, specifically, the Education For All commitments, many have not. A significant portion of the population continues to experience multiple deprivations, including access to and quality of education. Governments are making efforts to achieve ‘inclusive growth’ and working to distribute the benefits of economic development to all sections of society, as they mainstream the MDGs’ gains and its continuous application in the newly approved Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Many are increasingly recognising education as a pivotal component of inclusive growth.(From introduction