Canberra Hindi School marks 20 years, proving why heritage language schools still matter in Australia

For many Indian-Australian families, language is where culture either survives or slowly fades. That is what makes Canberra Hindi School’s 20th anniversary more than a routine community celebration. The school marked the milestone with a gathering attended by diplomats, political leaders and community members, underlining its role in promoting Hindi language and Indian culture in Australia.

The event drew Acting High Commissioner Irina Thakur, Senator Katy Gallagher, Federal MP David Smith, Chiaka Barry and members of the wider Indian diaspora. The school’s significance was also acknowledged by the High Commission of India in Canberra, which described Canberra Hindi School as a community-led initiative that helps strengthen India-Australia ties through language and culture.

What makes this anniversary especially meaningful is that Canberra Hindi School is not a symbolic or short-lived project. The school began in February 2006 and offers Hindi language classes for children aged 6 to 17. The High Commission of India’s Indian Ethnic Language Schools page also lists Canberra Hindi School and names Santosh Gupta as coordinator, showing the school has an established public presence beyond social media or one-off community promotion.

For Made in India readers, this matters because schools like Canberra Hindi School do far more than teach vocabulary. The school has spent two decades helping children and families stay connected to Hindi through cultural events and celebrations that bring the community together. That is exactly the kind of institution many migrant families rely on when they want their children to grow up confidently Australian without losing access to their heritage.

The wider Canberra context makes the story even more relevant. The ACT Government’s Punjabi and Hindi language education consultation page says the Indian diaspora is the ACT’s largest multicultural community, while a related consultation report says the community makes up around 17,000 people, with almost 10,000 speaking Punjabi or Hindi at home. That helps explain why a school like Canberra Hindi School is not just culturally valuable but socially necessary.

The anniversary also recognised the teachers, volunteers and families who kept the school going for two decades, with cultural performances and community activities forming part of the celebrations. That detail deserves attention because community language schools survive on consistency, not ceremony. They last because people give up weekends, organise lessons, keep children interested, and turn culture into something lived rather than remembered.

In that sense, Canberra Hindi School’s 20th anniversary is not just a Canberra story. It is a reminder to Indian-Australian families across the country that language schools remain one of the strongest ways to preserve identity, pass on culture and create belonging across generations. Canberra Hindi School has shown that this work can last and still matter deeply after 20 years.