You are correct that at the this time it doesn't have to be Asian however it is part of the new national framework.

Re Mandarin being more useful for business - I wouldn't dispute this however not everyone wants to be involved in international business and other languages are more useful for other things. If you happen to want to sing Opera Italian is more useful and if classical French cuisine is what rocks your boat the obviously French would be your language of choice. And we do significant trade with non-Asian countries if we can't communicate with them then that sucks for business.

I couldn't disagree more that language shouldn't be compulsory. Language doesn't just teach us language it teaches cultural understanding and stimulates parts of the brain that are pretty much dormant unless engaged in language acquisition. Education is about opportunities. Just because I didn't take the opportunities offered by physics doesn't mean that I think it should be dropped from the curriculum. For all students to miss out on opportunities because it is too challenging for a minority would be terrible unfair. Australia lags behind many countries in languages, it would be nice to see us catch up just a little.
I'm on Team Onyx

We lag SO much behind the rest of the world as it is with our schooling. My SIL is European and she learnt 2 extra languages at school. To move here she learnt a third. She can’t believe how simple our schooling is. Somehow the rest of the world manages to learn the maths, sciences and languages without any issues.

I don’t doubt some students have learning issues, and everyone learns differently. I don’t have a problem with them getting help, or different subjects, but why make the rest of the country have reduced education possibilities. It’s like saying, my child doesn’t like outdoor activities so it shouldn’t be necessary for any children to be active??

Trillian, I do see what you mean though about funding and country areas. There is an inequality (my rampage is probably education in general lol). I couldn’t imagine being a teacher who has to cater to all the children. They do an amazing job. I just feel that language is such an important part of education that it should still be an essential.