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By 1860, more than 250,000 immigrants had arrived in Melbourne, seeking their fortune on the Victorian goldfields. Many of the gold seekers brought their families. While adults often took night classes at local churches, the education of non-English speaking children soon became a matter of concern.
Photograph - Deep Lead School, 1858, Public Records Office Victoria
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Image courtesy of the Public Records Office Victoria
In 1866 the Board of Education professed that educating the children of migrants was too difficult a project to undertake, claiming: ‘there seems no reason why we should charge ourselves with their education’.
Church and community groups in mining areas like Deep Lead, Golden Point and Ballarat worked hard to ensure the children’s education was not neglected. Migrant education was tailored towards non-European migrants, most of whom were Chinese. People like Reverend William Young of Golden Point worked with local Chinese migrants to learn ‘classical Chinese and colloquial dialects’. He organised night classes in English for the migrants and their children.
Local state schools began to employ migrant teachers and to include the children of migrant families in their school communities. For example, at Deep Lead, four children in a class of 20 came from Chinese families. By 1868, one-sixth of all Chinese migrant children were attending school.
Document - Registration form, 1906, Public Records Office Victoria
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© Digital reproduction copyright of Image courtesy of the Public Records Office Victoria
The Presbyterian Women’s Union conducted a ‘school for Chinese girls’ in a brick building on the corner of Little Bourke Street and Heffernan Lane.
School registration documents show that the pupils learnt singing, composition‑writing, geography, history, spelling and recitation, as well as basic grammar and arithmetic.
Photograph - Presbyterian Women's Union School, Pupils at the Presbyterian Women’s Union school for Chinese girls, in traditional dress, c. 1890s, Public Records Office Victoria
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Image courtesy of Chinese-Australian Historical Images in Australia
As well as providing formal instruction to girls, the school in Little Bourke Street served as a community centre for local mothers and families. This photo shows students in traditional dress.
Victorian Collections acknowledges the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the first inhabitants of the nation and the traditional custodians of the lands where we live, learn and work.
