Rural and Remote Education - NSW
Rural
and Remote Education - NSW
Moree Public Meeting, 9 September
1999 - notes
The meeting was attended
by teachers and principals from rural NSW schools participating in the
Moree Croc Eisteddfod, Moree Indigenous health workers, state and federal
government representatives, members of the Gwydir Valley Cotton Growers'
Association, Indigenous training and development officers, community members
and parents. It was convened by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Social Justice Commissioner and Acting Race Discrimination Commissioner,
Dr Bill Jonas.
Information technology
"We have access to
technology but no one has the knowledge to keep it running in the schools.
No one has the time in the school and we are teachers not technology technicians.
There are plenty of resources across the schools here and perhaps if we
could combine the resources we would have very good technology, but the
problem is maintenance of the technology."
"There are times
when the computers in the schools are not used because they are not working.
We have the technology but we would need someone who could maintain the
technology full time. But there is no time provided for teachers who do
have the skills to maintain the system. Sometimes you can steal a period
here or there or work on the computer after school or at lunchtime but
there is not enough time for this work. You end up putting in much more
time than you are allocated for these jobs. But sometimes the jobs just
don't get done because there are greater priorities. Fixing the scanner
might not be the highest priority when there are so many other things
to do in the school."
"In Moree there is
a pilot school to work scheme for Indigenous students. This is about career
planning. This was interesting because there was already a lot of Vocational
Education and Training programs happening in the schools. In town there
was also the Help Centre programs that work with children after they have
left school. The problem then is that there is a lack of coordination
of the particular school to work projects. There is money available but
there are so many small projects happening and not one coordinated approach.
When one program ends the money runs out and then you have to reapply
for the money. There is no long-term vision and no long-term funding for
these projects."
Occupational therapists
and speech therapists
"There is a lack
of occupational therapists and speech pathologists in remote locations.
These specialists visit monthly but it is not enough for some of the children
here. We have a lot of children who require specific assistance. We have
a lack of contact with these heath specialists. There is a speech pathologist
here in Moree but there is a 6 month waiting list. When you go further
out of Moree it is even more difficult to get these services. The work
being done for these children is often developmental work and not remedial
work so it is very important that they are provided with the service."
Extra curricula
activities
"Extra curricula
activities can be very expensive for parents. By this I mean access to
specialist technology like computer graphics and excursions to take children
to places where they can access this technology. All of this would involve
travel and accommodation costs."
Indigenous staff
"We have Indigenous
teachers who don't get jobs in the schools where there are high populations
of Indigenous students. When we did our teacher training we were told
that we would be placed in schools where we could provide role models
for Indigenous students and so that we could also keep our culture alive."
"When most of us
did our training we were told that we would be about third or fourth on
the (teacher placement) list. Now we have got teachers here who are unemployed,
me being one of them. There was a promise from the teachers' college that
you would get a job where you want to go, in your own community. Now there
are not jobs in the community for people who want to stay and teach here.
What are we doing to change things like that? If we are talking about
reconciliation and if we want to make changes to meet the needs of children
with behavioural problems and diverse learning needs and styles then we
have to be fair dinkum. I still see that Aboriginal teachers are key to
solving some of the learning problems faced by Aboriginal children in
their education."
"The Department does
have a priority placement for Indigenous teachers and gives a commitment
to place above 30 teachers each year to their first preference if a vacancy
is available. We have currently approximately 35 Aboriginal teachers who
are unemployed or not placed permanently but are working casually because
their first choice is not available to them. There are situations where
people want to be appointed in their local school but there needs to be
a vacancy before they are placed there. There is also a priority transfer
situation for Indigenous teachers where they are given first choice for
a change of school."
"We provide regular
statistics to Sydney about this based on placing Indigenous teachers in
the Moree district because we have the highest percentage of Aboriginal
students in the State. There are people who are trained but they prefer
not to come to the Moree district."
"Yet there are Indigenous
people who can't get jobs in their own towns. We have a teacher here who
has been out of work for 4 years and she has not been able to get a job
in this town."
"Super Graduates
have priority placement over other teachers. This includes Indigenous
teachers."
"The other issue
is that Aboriginal teachers are not getting the classroom support that
they need. My wife stayed in her job for only 12 months and she is an
Aboriginal Physical Education and Health teacher. My wife did not have
the opportunity to work with Aboriginal kids. There is another teacher
who is thinking about resigning this term because he is not getting the
support he needs. There are problems too with the white kids who complain
about being taught by an Aboriginal teacher. It is not just a matter of
placing the staff, it is also about ensuring that they have the support
of other staff and the principal of the school."
"There are tremendous
pressures on Indigenous teachers. There are now multi phased induction
programs for Indigenous teachers. There are strong networks from the District
Office, the school and the Aboriginal Education Assistant Network to ensure
that people are supported in practice and classroom management, classroom
organisation and feeling comfortable in the teaching environment. It is
improving all of the time. We recognise that in the past there have been
the pressures that have been described."
"There can be a situation
where Indigenous teachers are dealing exclusively with Aboriginal children
and they burn out, or they can be excluded from working with Aboriginal
children. As a teacher I was appointed to an all-black school. I was asked
by a number of kids and adults, 'Hey, are you only trained to work with
black kids?' There is no happy medium here, you are either in the deep
end or you are not in the pool at all."
"We are aware of
these problems at the District Office and we have a range of programs
through mentoring and specific programs. There are different issues for
each person and so a variety of programs works best. When teachers come
to our district we run a 2 day induction program for these teachers. One
half day is spent with members of the Aboriginal community talking about
some of the issues at the school. We provide a tour of the town to look
at the various sections of the community to make the new teachers aware
that there are cultural differences within the town. We also have an Aboriginal
Mentor program. Schools are offered this service and then the staff can
nominate whether they would like to have a mentor to work through a series
of planned meetings to work through the goals and objectives as set by
the Aboriginal teacher."
"I think there is
a real lack of local history development here. A lot of Aboriginal money
has been spent, but it has not been used to develop local history books,
readers or videos. I know a lot of money has been spent buying computers.
A local history is one way that we can change the education system. Teachers
have access to young people from kindergarten right through to Year 12
and that is where it is breaking down. We haven't got the local history
and perspectives."
"There are very few
resources if you want to teach Aboriginal studies in primary school. We
have Aboriginal aides in schools to develop resources for the whole community
and they are not developing local material. The reason that this is happening
is because principals don't see Aboriginal education as a priority."
"I also think that
it is offensive that we fill these Aboriginal aide positions with non-Aboriginal
staff. These positions are set aside to develop Aboriginal materials and
curriculum and that is what they should be doing. Those positions should
be designated. The Teachers' Federation needs to look at it. The other
thing is that they are not 2 day positions. They are full time positions
and principals need to use them this way. What you find is happening is
the aide spends 2 days in the classroom and this is not what the positions
were intended for."
"I have been talking
with ASSPA committees [Aboriginal Student Support and Parent Awareness]
and schools about developing a local history of the Moree region but no
one really seems to listen. If we had these kinds of books or readers
then the teachers would have something to go to."
"In Boggabilla we
have a resource like this from the Indigenous Education Unit. The kids
weren't reading the Queen's English; they were speaking their own way.
We needed to get them to read. So with community consultation we developed
a set of readers that were written in ways that the kids speak to assist
them in the kindergarten and early childhood area. This has been quite
successful."
"The State Aboriginal
Education Group recommends that cultural awareness training must happen
at least once or twice a year for every teacher in the school. Principals
need to attend cultural awareness training too. The Aboriginal Education
Policy was just released in 1996/1997 and in that document is all the
strategies that schools should be putting into place to meet the needs
of Aboriginal kids and the community. If they are not doing their jobs
then who is looking over the shoulder of the school staff?"
"The real issues
are that so many of our kids are on suspension, that so few of them go
on past Year 10, that so many of them are illiterate at Year 6 and 7 after
all those years of schooling. Who is going to employ them if they can't
read or write? Everyone has to play a part in the education of our kids.
If we are serious about reconciliation then everybody is going to have
to play a part in this, black and white. It's not good enough to say that
we have made some changes. It's not fast enough and too many of our kids
are not succeeding."
"There are Aboriginal
kids in primary school in Moree who are 2 years below their grade reading
standard. These kids are spinning off into behavioural problems because
they are not able to keep up with the key learning areas. The Aboriginal
Education Group has initiated a project with DETYA funding where we provide
tutoring in the classroom. We are piloting this at the moment to bring
the students who are 2 years behind their peers to the same standard as
the other children. The bottom line is that the kids have to come out
with basic literacy skills. I think the Department has got to acknowledge
that there different ways of learning, that there is not just one way
of educating children, that there has to be alternative ways of educating
Aboriginal children. There needs to be a second way of learning. We can't
just consider the 9.00am to 3.00pm way of learning as the only way."
"The ATAS [Aboriginal
Tutorial Assistance Scheme] from Moree has also been used in Cairns for
12 months with great success."
"In our teacher education
departments, Aboriginal Studies is still an elective and it should be
a compulsory subject. Not just for teachers though, this should be compulsory
for teachers, doctors and all other professionals."
"We only get 1% of
Aboriginal kids through Year 12. There is very little good news about
education for Aboriginal children."
"The good news about
Moree at the moment is that there has been a 4% increase in attendance
at the 2 secondary schools in Moree. We are now only about 6% below the
State average rather than being about 10 to 15% below the State average.
In the 2 primary schools here in Moree, both are above 90% in school attendance.
This shows that the parents and the care-givers have put in a great effort
to get the kids to school. That has taken some hard work. Last year we
also had the Minister's award for excellence in student achievement given
to an Indigenous student at Moree Technology High School."
"In Walgett we have
the Community of Schools project to bring the community and the schools
together and to drive inter-agency co-operation to support education and
welfare for the students there. In Moree we have the Moree Place Management
Project that focuses on better inter-agency service delivery co-operation
and co-ordination amongst community services and education services. We
also have the Parents as Teachers program which has had a much greater
focus on Indigenous parents this year."
"Indigenous parents
are feeling far more comfortable to come to the school, especially after
the pregnancy and post natal classes that have been run at the school."
"In Moree we have
one school that has been labelled as an all black school. The farmers
won't send their kids to this school so they send their kids away and
know that their kids will not come back to the community. We are losing
a lot of people that way."
"In the old days
there was more collaboration between teachers across different schools
and to meet either the AECG [Aboriginal Education Consultative Group]
or community members. This doesn't happen now because the funding for
in-servicing has been cut dramatically."
"When we are able
to get our kids into jobs that are open to all people then we can start
patting ourselves on the back. When we put kids into government funded
tagged Aboriginal positions then we are not really achieving something
in terms of improved employment outcomes. We want our kids to be able
to win jobs on their own merits. But this is not just about training up
the kids; it is also about changing attitudes around town."
"We need to change
the educational system, the syllabus and the curriculum to meet the needs
of the kids. So much of what we teach the kids is not relevant to them
but we are required to follow the syllabus by law. Joint School-TAFE projects
where you bring in hands-on stuff is going to be much more relevant to
the kids here."
"The attitude of
the government was to keep kids on to Year 12. Now this policy was no
good for Aboriginal kids. Many of them needed to leave school at Years
9 and 10 and get involved with TAFE. The integration of TAFE into the
school system would mean that the kids would have a continuity of education.
Get the kids involved at an early age with electronics and trades so that
they don't lose interest and then they will be prepared for employment.
The problem with these policies is that they come out of Sydney. Sydney
people tell us how to run our schools. There is not enough emphasis on
local knowledge and leadership in the town."
"We also have a problem
with the teachers' unions because they are so resistant to change. Getting
teachers from schools and TAFE would be a major headache."
Disability
"If your kids have
any kind of disability you have to take them to Tamworth or elsewhere
for specialist care. Parents have to travel large distances and the cost
of petrol is a great concern to the parents."
"We also need to
look into problems such as Attention Deficit Disorder. We need to look
at some alternative educational systems or an alternative tutorial program
for these kids. We need to be able to give these children a quality education.
There are a number of students who are on medication and they do require
one on one support."
Travel
"Travel is an issue
for high school students here. Students travel long distances to get a
secondary education. The weather is also a problem. For example, if it
rains in Copper Creek the kids don't go to school. The unsealed roads
and the distances mean that travel is always more difficult."
Teacher turnover
"We get some great
teachers who come out here but once they have earned their extra points
they go straight off to the coast. Where are the incentives to get teachers
to stay here and settle here? A lot of the young teachers come here straight
from university and they only stay long enough to get enough points so
that they can move on to the place of their choice. This is what they
promise them. One of the reasons that the kids don't do so well in rural
and remote regions is that they can have anywhere up to 12 teachers a
year in Year 7. At one of the primary schools here we had a turnover of
the entire 29 staff in one year. We also get casual staff who come in
for a week, find that the kids are too wild and move on."
"We need another
system besides the points system. Pay them good money to come out here
and stay out here. Who wants to train at university for 3 to 4 years and
then begin their first year of teaching on $29,000 per year? That is a
joke."
Last
updated 2 December 2001.