The English literacy skills of teenage refugees in regional NSW have been boosted in the first trial of an Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation (ALNF) program outside the Sydney metropolitan area.

 

Since the middle of the year, 17 third year education students at Charles Sturt University (CSU) have worked as literacy and learning tutors for 26 teenage refugees enrolled at Wagga Wagga High School.

 

The university students were trained as volunteer tutors by the ALNF through its Refugee Action Support (RAS) program. The tutors and teenagers met weekly in small groups. Tutors and students also benefited from the bicultural and bilingual assistance of a dedicated Community Liaison Officer.

 

“This program has provided our students with the opportunity to understand and to contribute to the lives and learning of school students,” said Dr Kip Langat, Lecturer in Literacy and Social Studies at the School of Education at CSU in Wagga Wagga.

 

“The Charles Sturt University pre-service teachers are understanding value-driven practices in their curriculum areas that include ethical practice, social justice, and the increasing cultural diversity in rural and regional schools in Australia.”

 

Program coordinator at Wagga Wagga High School, Ms Deborah Anscombe said, “The Charles Sturt University students have been enthusiastic, committed and positive about the program and the high school students they were tutoring. We’ve seen improvement in the school students’ general engagement with their learning and improvement in their English language and literacy skills.”

 

The designer of the RAS program, Mr Eric Brace from the Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation, will attend a ceremony at Wagga Wagga High School from 10.30am on Wednesday 2 December.  Also attending will be CSU lecturer Dr Langat, CSU education students and Ms Anscombe from Wagga Wagga High School.

 

“The cornerstones of the program are two-fold,” Mr Brace said. First, learning language and literacy is a social activity, involving lots of give-and-take between people as they negotiate meaning and practice skills. Second, it’s important to have enthusiastic individuals from the community who are willing to lend a hand to help schools meet the needs of all students.”

 

The RAS program is supported by CSU, the NSW Department of Education and Training, and the Federal Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, which funds the 2009 program under the Schools Assistance (Learning Together - Achievement Through Choice and Opportunity) Act 2004.