Funding for English as a second language : new arrival students

Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA)

Abstract

The quicker migrants integrate into Australian society, the better for Australia's future prosperity. The crucial ingredient for successful integration is proficiency in English. This is true for children as well as adults. The quicker a newly arrived child learns English, the quicker they are to succeed in school and successfully participate in post-compulsory education and the workforce. This paper focuses on the newly arrived migrant students whose English language skills are not developed. A survey of the government state and territory education systems and Catholic education systems across Australia was conducted for this report. The survey was structured to collect data about the different modes of delivery of ESL tuition provided by a system for its newly arrived students. Financial and non-financial data were collected in the survey.