Rural and Remote Education - NT
Rural and Remote
Education - NT
Kalkaringi school meeting,
13 May 1999 - notes
Staff issues
"The turnover of
staff is huge in this school. This means problems in terms of lost organisational
knowledge and lack of curriculum continuity."
"Teaching staff leave
the school community for every holiday and this becomes costly."
"There is a need
for experienced teachers. New recruits are most likely to be inexperienced
teachers straight from university."
"Special training
is required to teach in rural and remote areas and this is currently unavailable."
"Cultural training
is required for non-Aboriginal teachers."
"More publicity is
required in urban centres to encourage appropriate staff who want to teach
in rural and remote areas."
"Staffing levels
are determined by the number of students at the beginning of the school
year. When attendance is temporarily low at the beginning of the year
the staffing ratios can be a problem. It can take time for additional
staff to fill positions during the school year."
"The high rates of
staff departure have implications for the ways in which literacy is taught.
The 'Whole Word' approach can be problematic. Curricula can be endlessly
repeated when there is no continuity of staff."
Staff incentives
Incentives for teachers
in rural and remote Northern Territory include the following:
- 3 full return
fares to Darwin each year
- There is a tax
rebate of $173 per year
- A special Schools
Allowance of $1,200 per year
- Free rent and
electricity
- After 4 years
of service, 6 months of paid training is available.
School resources
Internet access is
available at Kalkaringi Community Education Centre [CEC] though there
are a number of problems with its provision. The server is in Katherine.
People have to travel 4 hours in order to provide maintenance. This causes
delays.
There are no English
as a Second Language (ESL) trained staff at Kalkaringi CEC. Two of the
8 staff have completed short ESL courses.
"A school-community
liaison officer is needed at the school. This is currently not an option
for the Kalkaringi School. The NT Government has not allocated funds for
this position. Nevertheless, it is often family problems that keep the
children at home. It is also important that this role promote the benefits
of schooling throughout the communities."
Classroom management
"Single sex classes
work well at the school though due to relatively small numbers of children,
it is often impractical to run these classes. Culture and tradition dictates
that male teachers should teach male children and visa-versa. This is
not always practical and due to the large numbers of female teachers clustered
in this profession, there is often a real shortage of male staff in general."
Professional development
"A staff of 8 full-time
teachers with 80 pupils is just adequate to cover the levels and age ranges
of the children. This means that it is not possible for staff to leave
the school to engage in professional development. There are no relieving
teachers in the community to cover when staff are out of town."
"All staff need to
be trained in 'student screening' in order to determine the support needs
of the students. Rather than have the staff travel for this training,
it would be more practical and cost-effective for the professional development
to be delivered in Kalkaringi. This 'student screening' training should
be subsidised by the NT Government."
"Professional development
decisions are made from Katherine and Darwin. They are often inappropriate.
Recommendations from staff have gone unanswered. First Aid courses are
a high priority for staff, yet they have not been offered in Kalkaringi.
The school principal has made recommendations to Regional Council for
First Aid courses. These courses have not been delivered in Kalkaringi
and staff have had to travel to complete the training. The training has
been paid for from the school budget."
Last
updated 2 December 2001.
