A last resort? - Summary Guide: Education

A last resort?

National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention

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All children in Australia have a right to education.

Under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Australian governments

are required to provide, as a minimum, primary education that is 'compulsory

and available free to all' and secondary education that is 'available

and accessible to every child'.

All children in Australia, regardless of their nationality,

their immigration status, or how they arrived in the country, have the

same right to education.

The Inquiry looked at whether children in immigration detention

received a standard of education that was comparable to 'similar children'

in the Australian community. To help make this assessment, the Inquiry

looked at the education services available to refugee children and asylum-seeker

children living in the community.

It is the responsibility of the Department to ensure that

detainee children receive an adequate education.

Since 1999, most detainee children have had access to educational

programs inside detention centres. For several years, some detainee children

from some centres have attended local schools outside their detention

centre.

Since late 2002 this opportunity was extended to most detainee

children. However, as most children in immigration detention over the

period of the Inquiry attended internal detention centre schools, it was

important to examine the quality of that education.

How does the detention environment affect children's ability

to learn?

 

Children in detention often carry with them experiences

that make learning very difficult, such as the effects of past torture

and trauma. However, the detention environment itself makes learning even

harder.

Experts told the Inquiry that factors such as riots and disturbances,

moving from one compound to another, disruptions associated with arrivals

and releases and uncertainty over visa applications, all undermine the

effectiveness of education programs.

Of most particular concern, however, was the mental health

of children, which deteriorated the longer they were in detention. Detainee

children told the Inquiry that depression and anxiety made it very difficult

for them to concentrate and learn.

In addition, children's attendance at on-site schools

declined with the length of time they had spent in detention and as they

grew older because they felt depressed and because the classes didn't

meet their needs.

School education buildings and recreation area

at Curtin, June 2002

Education in detention centres

 

Despite the significant efforts of teachers, the Inquiry

found that there were fundamental problems associated with providing education

services in on-site schools throughout the period of the Inquiry. These

included:

• insufficient infrastructure
• inadequate hours of tuition
• inadequate educational assessments and reporting of children's

  progress.

Two other significant problems - the lack of an appropriate

curriculum and the shortage of teachers - are discussed below.

Many of these problems were substantially addressed

when, in 2002, the Department arranged for increasing numbers of children

to attend local schools.

Curriculum and resources

 

An effective education requires a carefully developed

curriculum which is appropriate to the needs of children. It also requires

adequate resources. Former education staff and community organisations

presented evidence to the Inquiry that the curriculum offered to detainee

children at on-site schools varied considerably over time and between

centres - however, it was often inadequate and unstructured.

Detainee children and parents consistently said that

a lack of age-appropriate teaching resources restricted children from

receiving an education suitable for their age and needs. This was a particular

concern for older children.

 

Further, there were limited learning opportunities

for detainee children aged 15 and over – even though two years of

post-compulsory schooling are available to children across Australia.

At this age detainee children were encouraged to enrol in education programs

for adult detainees, which were generally inappropriate to these children’s

needs.

 

By late 2002, efforts were made to expand the curriculum

in some centres, particularly in Woomera and Baxter. However, this expanded

program was not given sufficient resources in the early stages.

Availability of teachers

Evidence to the Inquiry highlighted the significant shortage

of suitably qualified teachers in detention centres, particularly in Woomera

and Port Hedland, which at times had very large numbers of children.

For instance, there were 282 children at Woomera on 1 August

2001 and 456 children there on 1 September 2002. However, during these

months no more than five teachers were employed - often the number was

less. By contrast, there is one teacher for every 25 to 30 students in

Australian primary schools.

To cope, adult detainees without Australian teaching qualifications

were sometimes called upon to teach classes. Mostly they acted as teaching

assistants but occasionally they taught classes alone.

This shortage of teachers also had an effect on the hours

of tuition students received. In most Australian schools, students receive

approximately six hours of teaching each day. However, detainee children

attending on-site schools prior to the end of 2001 received considerably

fewer hours of tuition. For example, ACM documents show that during 2001

teaching hours at Woomera varied between one and three each day, depending

on detainee numbers.

The high turnover of teachers also undermined the quality

and availability of education programs.

Finally, in some centres during 2002, teachers wore ACM uniforms

and security earpieces and consequently it was initially difficult for

children to distinguish teachers from detention officers.

Attending local community schools

Prior to 2002, education for detainee children largely took

place in on-site schools in detention centres. Some child detainees from

some detention centres were able to attend local schools in the community.

However the arrangements for this provision of external education were

ad hoc and the opportunity was only extended to a small number of children

in detention.

From mid-2002, increasing numbers of children in detention

were allowed to attend local schools, after the Department began to negotiate

agreements with State and Territory education authorities. By the end

of 2003, the majority of children in detention were attending external

schools.

Evidence to the Inquiry was clear about the benefits - child

detainees are able to experience a 'normal day' outside the detention

centre, be taught a full curriculum, socialise with other children and

make new friends, all of which improves their well-being. The Department

Manager in Port Hedland reported in June 2002 that the '[b]ehaviour and

socialisation skills of the children [are] improving as a result of attending

community schools.'

Parents told the Inquiry that they preferred their

children to attend external school. However, these benefits can be offset

by the experience of returning to the detention centre each afternoon.

 

Not all children, however, were allowed to attend external

schooling. For example, at Curtin, ACM staff determined whether a child

could attend the local school, based on how well they thought the child

would cope, their level of English and their social skills. Children in

the Australian community are never excluded from school on the basis of

requirements such as these.

In addition, some older children aged 16 and above were denied

the opportunity to attend external schooling because of their age. Being

denied access to attend a local school had a detrimental effect on some

children, contributing to greater levels of depression which, in turn,

affected their ability to learn in the detention centre school.

St Cecilia’s Catholic school attended by

children in Port Hedland,

June 2002

When did children in detention attend local schools?

Maribyrnong

1998	Children had access to education at St Margaret Mary's Catholic primary school from the beginning of 1998. Approximately 12 children participated in this arrangement. 2002 In October children began attending the local State schools.

Port Hedland

1998	Two children enrolled at St Cecilia's Catholic primary school. 2002 In April two children began attending St Cecilia's. From May, all children attended the school.

Curtin

2001	Children commenced at Derby District High School in March 2001 - five children attended during 2001. 2002 Approximately 16 children attended Derby District High School - a small proportion of the children detained at the time.

Villawood

2002	In August 2002 some children began attending local State schools. More children commenced at external schools in October, however, not all children could participate.

Woomera

2002	In December, primary school-aged children commenced attending St Barbara's Catholic Parish School in Roxby Downs, two days a week. 2003 By mid-2003 children detained at the Woomera Residential Housing Project were attending the Woomera Area School.

Baxter

2003	In March 2003 secondary school-aged children began attending local State schools, with primary school-aged children attending local State schools from April 2003. Some children were excluded from these arrangements.