New course helps migrants become 'Aussies'
01 November 2002
Kangan Batman TAFE is offering a new course to prepare migrants for citizenship.
The AMEP Citizenship Course is free to people who are eligible for the Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP), which provides up to 510 hours of free English language classes to eligible new migrants, refugees, and permanent residents.
Both programs are funded by the Department of Immigration and Indigenous Affairs.
The citizenship course covers everything migrants need to know about Australian citizenship, from the application process to the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. The course also includes an overview of Australian society, history and geography, and the legal and political systems.
By completing the course, participants can eliminate one stage of the process when they eventually lodge an application for citizenship. They receive a form to certify they have completed the course and that they have been assessed on their spoken and written English, and their understanding of the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. The certification means these things do not have to be assessed during the application process.
The 20-hour course is run two hours-a-week on Friday mornings. The first group of students finished the course in October, and there is currently a second course underway. The next course will be run in the new year.
A graduation ceremony was held recently for the first group of students: Eritrean refugees Samia Mohammed and Amira Mohammed of Glenroy, Niparat Garlick of Craigieburn, who migrated from Thailand after falling in love with an Australian, Jiong Lin from China, and Asli Ekici from Turkey, who now lives in Meadow Heights.
At the ceremony, each of the six students student spoke about why they want to become an Australian citizen. According to teacher Nola Phillip, the common themes were freedom of speech and religion.
"It was wonderful to see these new Australians so excited about the freedoms we enjoy here and very often take for granted."
"This is a voluntary course - there's no requirement to do a course before applying for citizenship. These people have made an extra commitment to learning as much as possible about Australia, and are so proud to become Australians."
"The course has proven to be very popular and I'm sure it's something we'll be running plenty of in the future."
