Canberra, Nov 27 (ANI): Australia's Deputy Opposition Leader, Julie Bishop, has put forward a proposal under which learning an Asian language would be mandatory for schoolchildren.
Bishop said that it is important to have a much greater focus 'on a second language'.
"In fact my view is it should be mandatory," Bishop told Sky News.
"It should be an Asian language. I wouldn't necessarily say it has to be Mandarin. Japanese, Indonesian - there are a number of Asian languages that would be important," she added.
Bishop said that she would push to have the plan adopted as coalition policy before the next federal election, News.com.au reports.
She pointed out that such a policy would help Australia engage with its increasingly important region.
"It would be brilliant form of soft diplomacy if we had a large body of people in Australia who were able to speak an Asian language," Bishop added. (ANI)
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