- Mrs Sesha Bhargavi Devalpally and Mrs Karthika Ranjithkumar recognised at the Outstanding Community Language Teacher of the Year Awards 2024
- Event highlights passion, dedication and skill of community language teachers
- The Cook Labor Government recognised importance of community languages and community language teaching with an additional $1.230 million provided to the sector
The exceptional achievements of two Western Australian community languages teachers were celebrated at the Outstanding Community Languages Teacher of the Year Awards, held at Hackett Hall, WA Museum - Boola Bardip.
Presented by Community Languages WA in partnership with the Office of Multicultural Interests (OMI), the awards recognise excellence in teaching by community languages teachers in promoting their language and culture.
Mrs Sesha Bhargavi Devalpally from the Western Australia Telugu Association Telugu Badi was named the Outstanding Community Language Teacher of the Year in recognition of a community language teacher who has gone above and beyond in carrying out their role, benefitting their students, the community languages sector and the wider community.
Mrs Karthika Ranjithkumar from Avvaiyar Tamil School was the inaugural winner of the new Emerging Community Language Teacher of the Year Award, which is for a teacher in the first three years of their career who is achieving excellence in community language education.
A record 39 eligible nominations were submitted across the two categories, with the valuable contribution of all nominated community languages teachers acknowledged with a Certificate of Merit.
The Community Languages Program, administered by OMI, supports 53 community language schools in Western Australia, teaching 34 languages including Amharic, Polish and Korean.
The majority of these not-for-profit community language schools are run by skilled volunteers during the evenings and on weekends.
Recently, the Cook Labor Government increased annual funding to the Community Languages Program by $1.230 million, bringing the total funding commitment to $2.345 million each year.
More information about the Community Languages Program is available on the OMI website.
As stated by Citizenship and Multicultural Interests Minister Dr Tony Buti:
"I commend the 2024 Outstanding Community Languages Teacher of the Year, Mrs Sesha Bhargavi Devalpally, and the Emerging Community Language Teacher of the Year, Mrs Karthika Ranjithkumar, for their well-deserved accolades.
"I also thank all the nominees and community languages teachers for their important contributions in language teaching and maintenance.
"The introduction of the Emerging Community Language Teacher of the Year Award this year is a fantastic opportunity to pay tribute to a new teacher who has all the right ingredients to continue to have a significant and positive impact as their career grows and develops.
"The incredible passion and expertise of our community languages teachers have benefits that go far beyond the classroom - their dedication helps to ignite a love of language and is a priceless investment in strengthening their students' ongoing connection to their cultural heritage.
"The Cook Labor Government recognises the importance of cultural and linguistic diversity of Western Australia, which was reflected in the $1.230 million annual boost to the OMI Community Languages Program to help ensure community languages teaching can continue to thrive into the future."
