Rural and Remote Education - Qld

Rural

and Remote Education - Qld

Meeting with teachers' aides

at Normanton School, 5 October 1999 - notes

This meeting was

attended by a number of teachers' aides, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous.

From HREOC: Chris Sidoti, Human Rights Commissioner; Lady Pearl Logan,

Queensland Co-Commissioner; and two Commission staff.

A number of issues

were raised, some relating specifically to teachers' aides and some relating

to remote education generally.

Training and support

for teachers' aides

"Teachers' aides

sometimes want to enhance their skills and qualifications. However, we

have very limited opportunities for training and development. Some support

is available under the RATEP [Remote Area Teacher Education Program] scheme.

Some part-time programs were to be conducted through the local TAFE College

but they were cancelled due to lack of numbers."

"When teachers' aides

do courses the extra skills and qualifications they obtain do not translate

into additional pay."

"Teachers' aides

don't get the same recognition or have access to the same incentives as

teachers when they undertake further study. For example, we don't have

the same entitlement to study-time."

"I did a disability

education course by distance but it was very difficult because there are

no reference books out here."

[A number of teachers'

aides were concerned about whether they had the same access as teachers

to counselling and other support when problems arose at school. It appeared

that some support was available but the level of support and how to access

it was not clear.]

Students with special

needs

"More assistance

is needed to address the special needs of remote students."

"The education system

often assumes that remote children have the same needs as mainstream children.

They don't."

"The school has a

high proportion of children with special needs. The staff here do a wonderful

job but they don't have the specialist training they need to support the

children effectively."

"Some students in

Year 10 at Normanton school are practically illiterate."

"Eligibility for

intervention services such as speech therapists and guidance officers

does not start until Year 2. This means that Year 1 children often miss

out, yet their need is just as great."

"Sometimes it is

very difficult to access medical reports relating to children with special

needs and learning problems. We need this information to be able to support

these children and monitor their progress effectively. When a student

sees a speech therapist or other professional we generally don't receive

copies of the reports. When we request them we are told that the information

is confidential. There needs to be better co-ordination between the hospital,

community health services and the school to ensure that this information

is used in a holistic way for the benefit of the child."

"Sometimes I see

a child in my class and I know he or she has a serious problem - a learning

difficulty. But I don't have access to the medical information to support

the child. I don't know what I should do to help the child. It's very

frustrating."

"There should be

more flexibility in school levels to take account of individual circumstances

and learning needs. The ideal structure would be to have three levels

- lower, intermediate and advanced - and allow children four years to

get through each one. The quicker students could complete the lower level

in three years but there would be no stigma attached to those who wished

to take the full four years. Some children start Year 1 without having

gone to kindergarten so they need to take things a bit more slowly in

the early part of their schooling. This would be preferable to the current

structure which is divided into individual years and where the student

is pressured to progress from one year to the next."

Health issues

"Access to medical

professionals such as ear, nose and throat specialists is very erratic.

It depends very much when they are available to visit the community. Their

visits tend to be very random. You get a fax a week beforehand telling

you they're coming. Then there is very little follow-up afterwards. Sometimes

you don't hear from them until 6 or 12 months later. In the meantime you're

tearing your hair out wondering what you should do to help the child."

"Sometimes when medical

professionals visit the community they are heavily booked and it is very

hard to get an appointment."

"We are usually not

able to arrange a medical person to visit the community at a time that

suits our needs. Mostly we are at the mercy of their timetable."

School attendance

"School absenteeism

is a problem in Normanton. The average attendance rate here is around

75%."

"We have tried a

number of preventive strategies to address absenteeism. One strategy is

to build better relationships between the school and the parents through

informal meetings and gatherings. For a while we tried having barbeques

and other social events. However, this did not last. Not many parents

turned up."

"Home visits is another

option for addressing absenteeism. However, we don't think parents would

be amenable to teachers dropping in on them."

[Commissioner Sidoti

described an ASSPA sponsored program to address absenteeism in Bourke,

NSW, where there is a high Indigenous population. Under that program each

teacher is required to visit the parents of each student in his or her

class during the first term of each year. If a student is absent from

school without explanation on two consecutive days, an ASSPA representative

or the school Aboriginal liaison officer visits the parents again. This

has resulted in the attendance rate increasing to 92-5%.]

Indigenous issues

"We wanted someone

to come into the school to teach Aboriginal languages. The school was

prepared to offer the space and other facilities but we were not able

to get a person in to do the teaching."

Financial assistance

for parents

"More assistance

is needed for parents whose children are away at boarding school. Some

support is provided to parents of Year 11 and 12 boarders but not to parents

of younger ones. Even though schooling is available up to Year 10 in Normanton,

some parents feel compelled to send their children to boarding school

earlier because of the lack of subject choice here."

Sport and community

activities

"Boredom is a major

problem for kids in this town. They don't have enough to do. There is

a need for more sport and other activities in the community to keep them

occupied. It would be great if they had a gym, a recreation centre or

a playground."

Last

updated 2 December 2001.