California school launches Punjabi language classes as part of after-school programme

Students in Fresno, California will now be able to learn the Punjabi language as part of an after-school program, it was reported. The Fresno Unified School District (FUSD) launched the new program in response to the Global California 2030 Initiative, which besides Punjabi, will also teach Arabic, Spanish, French and Mixteco, the India-West news reported.

Currently, the languages are taught at five elementary schools, with one of the languages taught at each school.

The statewide 2030 goals for the initiative, as per the school publication, are to triple the number of students who earn the seal of biliteracy, quadruple the number of bilingual programs, establish 100 state-approved bilingual teacher preparation programs and double the number of teachers authorized to teach in two languages.