Education

There have been some gains in certain education areas since the beginning of the 2007 Intervention and the 2008 Closing the Gap Campaign. However, overall secondary school attendance rates have seen a considerable decrease and NAPLAN results indicate little change in literacy and only incremental improvements in numeracy at both primary and secondary levels.

There are complex technical and practical barriers involved in the delivery of education services in the Northern Territory, particularly for remote indigenous communities. These difficulties are often compounded by cultural barriers and historical inconsistencies in educative approaches. Past efforts at education have resulted  in  "uncoordinated  projects, unrelated  initiatives and  an  absence of coherence and consistency."

Attendance rates for Indigenous students nationally have been relatively stable between 2014 and 2017 (around 83%). However, in the Northern Territory specifically, the Closing the Gap report indicates that attendance has decreased from around 70% in 2014 to 66% in 2017.  This can be further contrasted with the  attendance rate of non-indigenous students (around 93%). Essentially, the closing of the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous school attendance was not met nationally by 2018; and in the Northern Territory attendance rates went backwards. However, school attendance has been recognised as only one part of the story, with a broader focus now being taken on engagement, attendance and participation.

Target #1: Ensure access to early childhood education for all Indigenous four year olds in remote communities by 2013

The COAG target of ensuring access to early childhood education for all Indigenous four-year-olds in remote communities by 2013 was amended in 2015 . The new target is to have ‘95 per cent of all Indigenous four-year-olds enrolled in early childhood education by 2025’. Ninety-five percent enrolment was selected because pre-school is not compulsory for four-year-olds in Australia. Nationwide, this target is on track to be met. In 2016, approximately 14,700 Indigenous children (91%) were enrolled in early childhood programs.

However, it is the accomplishments of Victoria, Western Australia and South Australia in achieving universal enrolment which largely accounts for the status of ‘on track’. The Northern Territory is not individually on track, with Indigenous enrolment in early childhood education hovering at approximately 80%. As part of the Indigenous Advancement Strategy, the Australian Government has committed $257 million to supporting early childhood academic development since 2014.  Such funding is dedicated towards increasing children and parents participation in early childhood activities and equipping families with the necessary skills and resources regarding early learning.There is recognition that enrolment in preschool does not equate to attendance.

In this regard, the Northern Territory has the lowest rate of Indigenous attendance at preschool. During Term 1 of 2018, only 64.6% of Indigenous children enrolled in preschool attended as opposed to 89% attendance for non-Indigenous children. This is in stark contrast to the attendance rate of Indigenous children in other jurisdictions, where Indigenous attendance hovers at around 90%. In addition, there are regional variations in the attendance patterns of Indigenous children. The proportion of children attending early childhood education programs in communities classified as Remote and Very Remote is significantly lower than urban settings, and children in remote locations tend to be ‘critically vulnerable’.

Despite widespread support for achieving this target, there are concerns that access and enrolment in pre-school is not in itself a definitive solution to Indigenous disadvantage. However, the past 10 years has seen increased investment in holistic measures, such as integrating early childhood, maternal and child health, and family support services into schools in Indigenous communities experiencing disadvantage.

In 2016, 93% of Indigenous children enrolled in early childhood education had attended an early childhood education program each week. Early Childhood Programs such as  the Indigenous Early Learning Engagement Project have since been established to support the Government’s objective of ensuring that 95% of Indigenous children have access to early childhood education by 2025. The Project facilitated Start Them Early Workshops throughout the nation, with 1,180 Indigenous children attending the 32 workshops. The workshops not only provided early learning for Indigenous four-year-olds, but provided students with the opportunity to participate in culturally-competent education in terms of being directly taught from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Ultimately, the early Childhood Programs have had the effect of promoting engagement in consistent and quality education for both Indigenous families and children.

Pre-school enrolment actually peaked in 2011, with 91% of pre-school aged Indigenous children enrolled. However, the government has claimed that the falling percentage is due to improvements in record-keeping through the removal of duplications. Actual numbers of enrolments are increasing, with an extra 421 Indigenous children enrolled over the period from 2009-13.

In spite of widespread support towards achieving this target, there are still concerns that access and enrolment in pre-school in itself is not a definitive solution to the disadvantages faced by Indigenous children. Programs such as the Home Interaction Program for Parents and Youngsters, and Families as First Teachers are seeking to address this through equipping parents and family groups to make their children school-ready.

The Australian Early Development Index  indicates that there is still a strong correlation between being an Indigenous child in the Northern Territory and high levels of disadvantage in early childhood learning. A key finding in 2012 was that Indigenous children and children in remote areas are more than twice as likely to be developmentally vulnerable than their non-Indigenous counterparts.

Target #2: Halve the gap in reading, writing and numeracy achievements for Indigenous Australian children by 2018

This target is measured using the outcomes of the annual National Assessment Program– Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN). The gap is measured from the proportion of Indigenous students at or above the national minimum standards (NMS) compared to non-Indigenous students of the same year level. While the gap between literary and numeracy achievements of Indigenous and non-Indigenous students has narrowed, the target overall is not on track to be met.

The Closing the Gap report indicates that both nationally and within the Northern Territory, Year 9 numeracy is the only target on track to be met. The Northern Territory has the lowest proportion of Indigenous students at or above the NMS. Progress on this target has been disappointing so far, with the 2017 NAPLAN results indicating that the proportion of Northern Territory students achieving the NMS is consistently lower than other states and the Australian average. Across all year levels, the percentage of Indigenous students achieving the NMS across all year levels is between 27-42%, compared to Indigenous students nationally where the range is between 71-81%. Comparatively, non-Indigenous students in the Northern Territory have a significantly higher rate of achieving the NMS, with the lowest percentage being 92%..

None of the areas have shown a statistically significant improvement since 2008. The 2017 results also indicated that proportion of Indigenous students in Northern Territory remote schools achieving the NMS was on average 43%, and in very remote schools ranged between 5-34% of students achieving the NMS.

The result of NAPLAN data specific to the Northern Territory shows that the Indigenous cohort performs worse than equivalent cohorts across all geo-locations and year levels across Australia. This is even worse for very remote Indigenous students, who are already two years behind in their  writing skills by Year 3 and up to five years behind by Year 9 in comparison to  non-indigenous students in similar locations.

However, national statistics from the 2017 NAPLAN test show that the proportion of students meeting the NMS has increased in all categories for Indigenous students between 2008-2017, and the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students in every year level in both reading and numeracy has decreased in this period. Nevertheless, the reality is that very few students, especially in remote areas, attain their NTCET certificate at the end of their schooling.