Canberra – The Australia Mon Association has opened a weekly Mon Community Bilingual class in Canberra, the capital city of Australia. The Mon office, with funding from an Adult Community Grant by the local government, initiated the class to improve English language skills for the community, especially women who had limited English language skills prior to their settlement.

“This is the best opportunity for all Mon people in Canberra to be able to use their valuable time and energy with the Mon volunteer tutors.  We should be proud of ourselves that we were selected by the ACT Government to receive the grant to start this program,” Nai Pe Thein Zar, a senior advisor of the Mon community in Australia addressed at the opening day on March 29.

The Australia Mon Association leaders Nai Din Pla Hongsa, Nai Siri Mon Chan and Nai Kwae Mon are devoted volunteer tutors and Mehm Cheak Gakao is coordinating the project with the support of the Mon Office staff who proposed the project to the Department of Education under the Adult Community Education Program.

The program benefits 16 adult students from intermediate to upper intermediate and will run for 100 hours every Sunday at the Mon office building, Theo Notaras Multicultural Centre, Canberra City.