Review of Indigenous Education in the Northern Territory: Draft Report
Review of Indigenous Education in the Northern Territory: Draft Report Report
- Author(s): Bruce Wilson
- Published: 2015
- Publisher: Department of Education, Northern Territory
Abstract: This is the first comprehensive review of Indigenous education in the Northern Territory since the Learning Lessons: An independent review of Indigenous education in the Northern Territory (Collins) reported in 1999. Since that time, another generation of Indigenous children has passed through the Territory’s schools. Despite substantial investment and dedicated effort, this report suggests that in some areas the position for many Indigenous children is worse than it was at the time of the last review. The generation of children since Collins, especially in many remote schools, has failed to gain the benefits that Learning Lessons anticipated. The dimensions of the problem are evident in National Assessment Program Literacy And Numeracy (NAPLAN) results. By Year 3, Indigenous students in very remote schools in the Northern Territory are already two years of schooling behind Indigenous students in very remote schools in the rest of Australia in their writing results. By Year 9, the gap is about five years of schooling. These are not comparisons with the general population, but with comparable students in comparable locations. The starting point for this review is that the children now in our schools, and those yet to arrive, deserve better. The review has taken as a non-negotiable that there must be an explicit focus on improving unacceptably low outcomes for Indigenous children. Some key initiatives established since the Collins report have been ineffective. Substantial progress will not be achieved by marginal improvements.