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International interest in the work of the CRC continues
8 February 2011
(Left to right) Ms Ha Kyung, Ms Yunjin Bae, Ms Jihye Lee, Mr Stepan Kerkyasharian, Soyoung Choi and Narae Kim
Two groups of students from Korea have visited Commission recently to learn about Australian multiculturalism.
Three students from Jyung Hee University in South Korea visited the Community Relations Commission to learn about multicultural education policies. Five other students from Busan came to inquire about policies for maintaining community harmony in a multicultural society.
The leader of the Jyung Hee group Ms Ji Young explained to CRC Chairman, Stepan Kerkyasharian, that: “As a result of inter-marriage and the arrival of many overseas contract workers there was now a population of about one million non-Koreans living in Korea. Many children have been born to multicultural families. Most of these children don’t know their own identity or what nationality they should call themselves. For them to develop a clear identity, they need to know their mother’s and father’s culture as well as the Korean culture. In our project we are focussing on creating education programs for the children of multicultural families mainly on the cultural and artistic aspects.”
This group asked detailed questions about aspects of multicultural education in New South Wales, including the function of the Government’s Saturday Schools for language study and the Community Language Schools network.
An important line of questioning was about the event organised by the Commission following the Cronulla riots to bring together primary school children from Western Sydney and from the Sutherland Shire. In describing the event, the Commission Chair presented to the students three of the coloured caps like those given to children at the Beach Bonaza. He explained that children of different backgrounds were formed into teams for the day’s sports activities according to the of the colour of the cap they were wearing.
The study group from Jyung Hee University comprised Ms Soo Ah, Ms Da Ye and Ms Ji Young.
The Busan group had a wider area of interest asking many questions about the challenges of maintaining and developing harmony and the Commissions forecasts for the future.
This group comprised Ms Ha Kyung, Ms Yunjin Bae, Ms Jihye Lee, Soyoung Choi and Narae Kim
Mr Kerkyasharian said today: “The work of the Community Relations Commission is becoming increasingly well known in Asia and we now regularly receive visits from students and academics from Asia wanting to know more about how community harmony is promoted and maintained in a culturally diverse society. This interest began in the early Nineties when Japanese academics first started thinking about the policies issues arising out the increasing number of foreigners making their homes in Japan. Now other countries are experiencing a broadening of their demographic base and want to make sure they don’t make mistakes. A common theme raised by visitors from South East Asia is the settlement of Muslims within Australian Society.”
