Rural and Remote Education - Qld
Rural
and Remote Education - Qld
Secondary students meeting
in Mt Isa, 7 October 1999 - notes
The students divided
into groups. They were asked to identify both the good and bad things
about school and some of the things they would like to change. The discussion
covered a wide range of issues.
Teachers
"We get a lot of
newly graduated teachers with no experience."
"We need more experienced
teachers, especially for senior classes."
"There are no attractions
for teachers to come and teach in this area."
"Classes are large
and teachers are not always able to give us the individual attention we
need."
"In some classes
the staff-student ratio is quite high. In maths, for example, there are
25 students with one teacher. This makes learning difficult, particularly
in complicated subjects like maths. Some classes have up to 30 students."
"They swap teachers
a lot in high schools. This can be very destabilising for students."
"Sometimes you have
only just established a good relationship with a teacher and they get
transferred to another class or another school."
Subject choice
"Subject choice is
often limited because the timetables for different subjects clash. For
example, drama and physics are on the same 'line' which means that they
cannot both be undertaken in the same year. There should be better planning
of school curriculum so that these clashes do not occur so often and students
have greater subject choice."
"We don't get to
do a lot of interesting science activities."
Access to secondary
and tertiary education
"Not all high schools
in Mt Isa go up to year 12. This means that some students who want to
do year 12 must transfer to another school or leave Mt Isa. Some go away
rather than go to another local school because there is greater subject
choice in city schools."
"Mt Isa Catholic
School only goes up to year 10. The school should also offer years 11
and 12."
"Parents who would
rather send their children to Catholic schools have to send them away
to boarding school once they reach year 11."
"Kids in city schools
can often complete their primary and secondary education at one school.
We have to change schools when we go from primary to secondary."
"Young people in
Mt Isa have less options than young people from the cities. There is no
university here. There is no year 11 or 12 at the Catholic school. To
get the opportunities they need their families have to pay more money.
For those who don't go on to further education it can be very hard to
get a job in Mt Isa."
"There are no real
opportunities here. Students have to go away of they want to do well in
their career."
"Its very hard to
compete with city kids for university places."
Students with special
needs
"Students who have
a hearing impairment, speech impediment or other problems need more care
and support than is currently available to them at school."
"No provision is
made for wheelchair access. There are no services for students who are
vision-impaired or whose first language is not English."
"There are some kids
who don't attend school and spend most of their time wandering the streets.
Some of them are kids who have fallen behind in their studies and have
not been able to catch up."
Technology
Nearly all students
indicated that they had computers at home. Some of them regularly access
the internet through their home computers. They said they can access the
internet through a local server for around 50 cents or one dollar per
hour.
"Internet access
at school is not great. There are a few computers at school but there
is high demand for them and you often have to queue up. They don't always
work well. They often break down and there aren't many people in town
with the expertise to fix them."
"We need trained
computer consultants to maintain the computers at school. Many of the
computers don't work."
"We don't know enough
about computers. We need to improve our skills."
"We need more access
to the internet."
"There is only one
dealer in Mt Isa who can service computers."
Sport
"We need better sports
facilities at school like properly maintained ovals and better basketball
courts."
"The school only
offers the most popular sports. If you have an interest in a more specialised
sport you generally don't get the opportunity to develop it."
"There are not many
community based sports clubs outside of the school. There are a few but
they're not very good."
Extra-curricular
activities
"More funding should
be allocated to rural schools to enable them to participate in statewide
sporting and other competitions on the same basis as metropolitan schools."
"We are not as well-funded
as some city schools. This makes it hard to send children to other places
for a learning experience."
"We have to travel
to Brisbane for competitions like "Tournament of Minds". It is a lot harder
for us than for students in Brisbane. They don't have to worry about whether
they can raise funds for travel or whether the school will cover travel
costs."
"If you want to attend
training course or clinics, there is a huge cost for transport and accommodation.
Not enough funding is provided for these activities."
"We don't go on as
many excursions and activities as we would like to. Teachers often cannot
get away from classes to do these things. When we do go we mostly travel
by bus. The bus trip to Brisbane takes 26 hours."
"We have good camps
where we get to learn and have fun as well. Sports days are great and
they help us keep fit. At sports days you feel welcome and you get to
know people from many different places."
"We would like to
be able to go to more camps."
School conditions
"The toilets at school
are not very clean. Sometimes they are very dirty with cigarette butts
and other rubbish lying around. Sometimes I would rather wait until I
get home than use the school toilets."
School harmony
Students commented
positively on the social aspect of school and the sense of community they
feel there.
"The atmosphere at
school is fairly harmonious."
"Its easy to get
around and meet people here because there is not such a big crowd."
"You get to know
everybody at school."
"You meet new people
and teachers and you can always count on them."
"Schools have lots
of great games and activities and we can always have fun and learn at
the same time."
"You feel you are
part of a community and everyone respects you for what you are."
Drugs and crime
"There is not a big
drug problem in school. It is not as bad as down south."
"There is not as
much crime here as there is in big city schools."
Co-operation between
schools
"There should be
more co-operation between schools in the region. They should work together
to ensure that the North-west Queensland keeps up with other regions in
the State. Funding should be provided to enable schools to work together
more closely."
Plans for the future
Students spoke about
their plans for the future. The majority of them aim to complete year
12 and pursue professional careers. Most of them do not want to stay in
Mt Isa. They feel that there are limited opportunities in Mt Isa for the
careers and also more generally. The students' career aspirations include
working in the media, engineering, electronics, law, commerce, psychology
and architecture.
[This contrasts with
students the Inquiry has met with in smaller and more remote communities.
Many of those students expressed a desire to stay in their communities
and indicated that they would only leave if there was no other alternative.]
Last
updated 2 December 2001.