In danger of losing our Croatian schools in Victoria

Josip LONCARIC

MELBOURNE - For the first time in more than 28 years, there will be no Croatian language classes running at the Victorian School of Languages campus at University High in Melbourne.

That is the shocking reality that has forced the handful of students at the central Melbourne institution, who would have otherwise attended, to either abandon their dreams of furthering study in the mother tongue, or at least force them to look elsewhere in order to improve their skills.

In recent years, the community has seen a steady decline of (secondary) school students attending Saturday morning classes at the various VSL centres throughout Victoria, culminating with the closure of University High.

The frustrated president of the Association of Croatian Language Teachers in Victoria, Katica Perinac, is not surprised by the bad news. On the contrary, she expected the worst.

''Numbers have been dropping for a while, class sizes are decreasing and numerous other services for Croatian speaking people are slowly being phased out'', a clearly disappointed Perinac told the 'Croatian Herald', ahead of the new school year which, for Victorian based Croatian school students, begins this Saturday.

The trend however does seem to have several areas for concern, making it difficult to pinpoint one reason for the decline in numbers.

''Australian-Croatians seem to be heading towards complete assimilation without knowing much about their language, culture and heritage, which is a massive shame considering how much our community fought to have our own Croatian language recognized'', she said.

VSL language centres in Geelong and Keilor Downs are still leading the way in numbers of attendances, but the gap between primary and secondary school enrolments has been growing at an alarming rate by the year.

''The second and third generation of Croatians in Victoria seem to be doing their part and sending their children to primary school, but the same can't be said for secondary school children and parents'', explained Perinac.

The Domino effect that has escalated from this trend has seen several important community services decline in recent years.

''Interpreting services are dwindling and council libraries are spending less and less on Croatian books, music and other material, and this all comes down to statistics that show the decline of the use of the Croatian language by parents and children at home and in everyday situations'', she said.

Parental commitment to the Croatian language seems to come a distant second to sporting activities, which is proving to be detrimental to the future of the Croatian community.

''This is definitely true, but also we have recently arrived Croatians from Croatia or Bosnia and Hercegovina who don't send their children to Croatian school for whatever reason'', elaborated Perinac.

''We (Croatian school teachers) have a duty to provide innovative and engaging lessons for children at Croatian school, because we don't want to lose our strong connection with our (and our parents') homeland'', concluded Mrs. Perinac.

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COMMENT: Blend the best of both worlds to create an even better person

The alarming decline in overall student enrollments in Croatian language classes at the various Victorian School of Languages campuses in Melbourne and Geelong bodes poorly for a community that is battling to maintain a proud history and culture amongst the temptations and relative ease of assimilation.

Yes it is important to be a productive member of the Australian community, but why can't you blend the best of both worlds to create an even better person (on a micro level) and environment (on a macro level)?

Being a former Croatian school graduate myself and a current secondary school teacher in the Victorian education system, I have seen both sides of the spectrum, and only now can I truly appreciate completing my year 12 studies in Croatian.