Australia faces major challenges in its understanding of Asia, with significant gaps in education on the language and culture of China and the rest of the region that need to be addressed, according to the latest analysis.
Australian students at the Year 12 or university levels are not studying Asian languages at adequate rates, according to the findings of a major parliamentary report released on June 30.
In 2023, only 3.3 percent of Year 12 students studied one of three previously designated "priority Asian languages" — Chinese, Indonesian, and Japanese — a decrease from 5.1 percent in 2010, it said.
"Fewer and fewer students are learning a second language, and the number of students engaging with Asian studies and Asian languages has fallen to the lowest levels since 1965," according to the report.
The committee behind the report found that "a key issue affecting the current teaching of Asian languages and cultures is the fragmentation across the education system and a lack of coordination between the skills and knowledge that schools and universities impart and how this is connected to the needs of Australia".
