by MONICA ATTARD
Every Australian child should learn Mandarin, Hindi or other regional language as the nation’s future is tied to the rise of the “Asian Century,” Prime Minister Julia Gillard said in a policy speech on Sunday.
“Whatever else this century brings, it will bring Asia’s return to global leadership, Asia’s rise. This is not only unstoppable, it is gathering pace,” Gillard said in a long-awaited policy white paper entitled, “Australia in The Asian Century.”
The policy outlines 25 objectives Australia must achieve by 2025 to take advantage of Asia’s rise to boost the wealth of Australians.
Chief among the goals are that every child learn an Asian language, in particular Mandarin, Japanese, Indonesian or Hindi, and that they leave school having studied Asian culture.
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