Private boarding school vs public school education for Indigenous students

Indigenous people were more likely to attend a TAFE and less likely to be attending university with 5 per cent of all Indigenous people aged over 15 years attending TAFE in 2001, compared with 3 per cent of the non-Indigenous population. However, when this figure is restricted to people aged 15-17 years and excludes people still attending school, 14 per cent of Indigenous people were attending TAFE compared with 22 per cent of non-Indigenous people of the same age. Attendance rates at TAFE for Indigenous students aged 18-24 years were also lower than for non-Indigenous students (8 per cent and 11 per cent respectively).

Indigenous people aged 15 years and over were less likely than non-Indigenous people of the same age groups to attend university (three compared with five per cent). For Indigenous peoples aged 18-24 years, this rate is significantly lower than for non-Indigenous people (5 and 23 per cent respectively).

Fred Hollows Foundation Report

Beswick, an Indigenous community four hours drive from Darwin, has the unenviable record of not having a single child reach the national literacy benchmarks for Years 3 and 5 in 2002. Peter Holt from the Fred Hollows Foundation, speaking on ABC Radio, said the statistic is one of the findings of a report commissioned by his Foundation.

The report produced evidence that low literacy is one of the biggest hurdles when it comes to improving the health of those living in the community. With appalling statistics such as these, an indictment on all levels of government, it is little wonder that decisions are often made by Indigenous leaders with a total reliance on their educated non-Indigenous advisors.

What do you think would happen if a primary school in your town or suburb recorded an identical result as Beswick where no child passed the national benchmarks for Years 3 and 5?

An Indigenous political perspective

Indigenous Senator Aiden Ridgeway, speaking to The Australian, said that, “Unless we deal with the environment in the communities, any good that is being done through boarding schools will be undone very quickly”. Senator Ridgeway qualified himself by adding, “Some Indigenous boarders avoid returning home to their communities because of the alcoholism and substance abuse”.

I acknowledge what Senator Ridgeway says but I am mindful of the predicament of under-achieving students at secondary schools in Cape York and would need to be guided by experienced campaigners like Pearson who are intimate with their circumstances. However I would be comforted if a majority response came from Cape York students and their parents, in a public show of support, to the Pearson blueprint.

Would I send my children to boarding school?

As a former boarder at Marist Brothers College, Ashgrove, and a former on-field opponent to Pearson’s brother Gerhardt, who represented St. Peter’s Lutheran College 1st XV rugby team, I consider the advantages far outweighed the disadvantages of travelling vast distances in pursuit of a better standard of education.

However my circumstances were different in that the public school in my home town of Cunnamulla didn’t extend past Year 10. It was a matter of boarding at another town or concluding my education.

It helped that I was a good sportsman at the time as I wouldn’t have found much solace in the company of members of the debating team. I was also one of the first Indigenous boys at my boarding school: a predicament most Indigenous students my age found themselves in at their private schools.

Today’s society is more aware of the needs and aspirations of our people and boarding school administrators have now had years of experience at sorting through difficult cultural issues that arise with their Indigenous students. The barriers broken by my generation, and others older than me, have made entry to and participation in the school’s educational, sporting and social environment much easier and equitable for Indigenous students today.

I remember as a boarder many students inviting me to their homes for holidays with the proviso that I say I was of Indian or Fijian descent. Needless to say I never graced the inside of any of my fellow classmates’ imposing residences.