The ACTU welcomes the report Education is the Key released today (23 October 2007) by the Australian Education Union (AEU).
In the light of the Federal Government’s Intervention in the Northern Territory, this report investigates the need to improve access to and participation in high quality education for all Indigenous children, and the cost of provision of this service.
The report finds that the emphasis, in the Federal Government’s NT intervention plan, on school enrolment and attendance is a limited goal that will not redress the serious disadvantages that Indigenous children and communities face. The report estimates that as many as 7,500 Indigenous children in the NT do not attend school and pre-school – in most cases the teachers, classrooms, chairs and desks simply do not exist to accommodate them.
The report finds that already a number of NT schools are facing heavy pressure as a result of a recent increase in enrolments, not restricted to the compulsory years of schooling.
The report finds that education is the key to overcoming disadvantage – enabling children to build better futures for themselves, their families and their communities; to find jobs, have successful careers; and to participate actively in their communities and in society.
The report calls for Indigenous children in the Territory to have access to the same educational opportunities as children in the rest of Australia.
The report finds that a lack of critical resources remains the problem, and calls on the Federal Government to ensure that there is long term follow-up to the current intervention with a substantial funding commitment.
In its key recommendation of the report, the AEU calls on the Federal and Northern Territory governments to work in partnership to ensure all children in the Northern Territory have access to and participate fully in high quality education. The estimated cost of this provision is an additional $1.7 billion over five years.
The Reports recommendations are as follows:
- That the Commonwealth and Northern Territory governments give an ongoing commitment to resourcing the provision of high quality education from two years of preschool for all Indigenous children through to Year 12 and beyond.
- That the Federal Government commit to providing an additional $1.6 billion to the Northern Territory over five years for the provision of teachers and other staff and support services and for the development of necessary infrastructure such as classrooms and teacher housing.
- That the Northern Territory Government commit to providing at least an additional $100 million over five years for the provision of support services, the employment and training support of additional Indigenous teachers and the recruitment, training and induction of additional teachers from within and outside the Territory, the professional development of existing staff, the lowering of class sizes, provision of Aboriginal Islander Education Workers (AIEWs) and home liaison officers in every school and the review of curricula and pedagogy.
- That all the education recommendations contained within the Little Children are Sacred report be implemented.
- That the resourcing model for Northern Territory preschools and schools be restructured to focus on success, with the initial step to be the staffing of preschools and schools on the basis of enrolments, not on attendance.
- That governments consult and negotiate partnerships with all communities about the sharing of responsibilities, to ensure that all children can participate successfully in a quality education, and the best structure of education and other services to meet community needs.
The AEU Report Education is the Key is a significant contribution to finding the solutions to the issues raised in the Little Children are Sacred Report.
The ACTU calls the on the Federal Government and the Northern Territory Government to adopt these recommendations.