Internet video-chats are helping some Australian schools revive Asian language classes, and helping students connect across cultural and geographic boundaries.

A program has been running at Melbourne's Marlborough Primary School in conjunction with the MIN Cempaka Putih madrassa in Jakarta. It has seen regular video link-ups between classes at the two schools where students can speak to other and improve language skills on both sides of the Timor.

The initiative has been funded by the federal government’s ‘Building Relations through Inter-cultural Dialogue and Growing Engagement’ (BRIDGE) program. Teachers say the program adds an exciting new element to language classes for students, and has sparked a new interest in the country and culture of our nearby neighbours.

The program is going against a recent trend in Australian schools, which has seen the retraction of Asian language classes over the last few years. ANU researchers say over 44,000 students studied Indonesian in New South Wales public schools in 1996, compared to just 6,000 by 2011. Statistics also say just over 80 students studied the language in their final year.

Kathy McVeigh, a Marlborough Primary School teacher, says the internet-based classes are a powerful tool for student engagement: “It's really about one-on-one contact and getting to know each other through Skype and through a personal level... it was nothing that you could get from a book,” she said.

A key recommendation of the Asian Century White Paper released under the government of Julia Gillard was for all Australian schools to engage with at least one partner school in Asia.