Can remote Aboriginal schools compete?
Schools in remote Aboriginal communities struggle as they receive less resources than similar schools in towns with mainly non-Aboriginal students.
Here is a comparison of resources provided to two similar school communities based on data from the Institute for Cultural Survival [1]. One school is located in Arnhemland, where mostly Aboriginal students speak Aboriginal languages, the other in a regional location where the mostly white students speak English.
Dundee Beach school
The Dundee Beach community was originally established as a weekend fishing retreat. It is a small, predominantly non-Indigenous township located about 62 kms as the crow flies from Darwin. Dundee Beach School is a regular school and had 6 students enrolled in 2009.
Mirrngatja Remote School
Mirrngatja is a small, permanently occupied township located in east Arnhemland (see the green arrow in the map below). Mirrngatja is about 475 kms as the crow flies from Darwin (Google maps wouldn't find it unless you enter coordinates). Mirrngatja school is a Remote School and had 13 students enrolled in 2009.
Normal vs. remote schools
Currently in the Northern Territory there are about 15 out of 151 schools with attendances below 20, all of which receive full government funding. Yet, 45 remote Aboriginal school populations with at least comparable and in many cases greater numbers are unable to access the same level of schooling facilities and service as their white counterparts because they are classified as Homeland Learning Centres.
Note how the government treats these centres differently in the table below.
| Normal school (Dundee Beach) |
Remote school (Mirrngatja) |
|
|---|---|---|
 |
 |
|
| Year opened | 1998 | 1982 |
| DET classification | School | Homeland Learning Centre |
| Student numbers in 2009 | 6 | 13 |
| Students' first language | English | Djambarrpuyngu, Ganalbingu |
| Resident teacher | √ (full-time) | – (visiting teacher 1 day per week) |
| Resident assistant teacher | √ | √ |
| School infrastructure | ||
| Classroom | √ (paid for by DET) | √ (paid for and built by parents) |
| Classroom aircon | √ | – |
| Library room | √ | – |
| Ablution block | √ | – |
| Shaded play area | √ | – |
| Office | √ | – |
| Teacher accommodation | √ (2-bedroom) | – |
| School vehicle | √ | – |
| Carport | √ | – |
| Running water | √ | – |
| Electricity | √ (generators purchased by the NT government) | √ (through solar installation for community) |
| Classroom resources | ||
| Reading schemes | √ | – |
| Class sets of readers | √ | – |
| Class sets of text books | √ | – |
| Classroom services | ||
| Languages taught | English, Indonesian, Auslan | English |
| Interactive distance learning | √ | √ (by phone) |
| Internet | √ | – |
| Classroom equipment | ||
| Computers | √ (8 computers) | – |
| Smart board | √ | – |
| Printer | √ | – |
| Scanner | √ | – |
| Office equipment | ||
| Computer | √ | – |
| Photocopier | √ | – |
| Fax machine | √ | – |
| Printer | √ | – |
| Phone | √ | – |
| Finances | ||
| Infrastructure investment by government over life of school | $1,500,000 (estimate) | $200 |
| Repairs and maintenance carried out | √ | Rarely |
| Received funding through the government's $11.7 billion funding "available to every Australian school" | √ | – |
Indigenous Australians living on outstations (homelands) receive services comparable to those received by other Australians living in a community of similar size, location and need. —Jenny Macklin, Indigenous Affairs Minister [1]
Out of respect for Aboriginal culture I use Indigenous sources as much as possible.
[1] 'Unequal Schools', Institute for Cultural Survival, 8/2009