National report to Parliament on Indigenous education and training, 2002

Abstract:

This is the second in a series of annual reports to the Australian Parliament that tracks progress in Indigenous education and training. It enables the Commonwealth Minister for Education, Science and Training to report to the Parliament at the end of each funding year on outcomes associated with Indigenous education and training. In addition, the report provides important information for Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, the educational community and Indigenous students. Data has mainly been derived from official national collections or from Indigenous Education Strategic Initiatives Programme (IESIP) data. IESIP covers over 90% of Indigenous students in education and training. The report focuses on outcomes achieved in Indigenous education and training, comparing them with those of 2001 in order to enable education providers to evaluate their progress in the national context. It identifies four priority areas relating to improving outcomes for Indigenous students: literacy and numeracy, enrolments, attendance and retention and the gaining of qualifications. The report also looks at outcomes relating to developments in Indigenous influence, involvement and presence in 2002 in four priority areas: Indigenous employment, professional development of staff involved in Indigenous education and training, involvement of Indigenous people in decision making and the development of culturally inclusive curricula. The introductory chapters provide an executive summary presenting highlights of improvements and continuing gaps in outcomes for Indigenous students, information about the national report, and contextual information associated with the history of, and current policies and social influences on, Indigenous education and training in Australia. The report is then structured according to the four main sectors of education and training in Australia: preschool (chapter three), schooling (chapter four), vocational education and training (VET) (chapter five), and higher education (chapter six). Each chapter begins with introductory information, data and discussion about Indigenous presence, involvement and influence. This is followed by the key areas of enrolments and educational outcomes. Chapter seven provides progress information on the National Indigenous English Literacy and Numeracy Strategy (NIELNS) and chapter eight reports on payments under the Indigenous Education (Targeted Assistance) Act 2000. The report concludes that 2002 built on the gains made in 2003 and was an encouraging year for Indigenous education with positive outcomes reported on many of the key indicators of progress on all levels from preschool to university. However, there remain very large gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous educational outcomes.