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The Australian government has been severely criticized for its past discriminatory treatment of the nation's Indigenous people, the Aborigines, and has only recently made serious efforts to right this wrong. Last month ABC News Australia reported on a pledge made by Australia's Prime Minister, in an "apology to the Stolen Generations," to have every Indigenous four-year-old attending an early childhood facility within the next five years.

Northern Territory Education Minister Marion Scrymgour, who will be responsible for much of the results, observed, "It's a program that is long overdue and I've always said that we're never, ever going to get our young people into secondary if we don't focus on primary and particularly target early childhood education."

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One exciting feature of the 2009 World Forum on Early Care and Education in Belfast, Northern Ireland, will be the bringing together of early childhood educators from indigenous communities in Oceania, Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Americas to share strategies and priorities in educating young children in Indigenous communities. Ideas will be shared on passing on language and cultural traditions to future generations as well as preparing children to preserve Indigenous cultures in the era of a global economy. Please share other topics you would like to see addressed at the upcoming World Forum in this week's Exchange Insta Poll. Learn more about the 2009 World Forum.

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