Taking Control: Improving Secondary Indigenous Education in Central Australia

Abstract

This is the Final Project Report of a six-month study undertaken in Alice Springs, commissioned and funded by the NT Department of Education. The research was managed by Central Australian Aboriginal Congress, and directed by a Steering Committee representing Alice Springs Aboriginal community organisations and government agencies. The purpose of the study was to identify options for community-controlled secondary education, and to propose a strategic way forward, taking account of existing programs and obtaining information to support the development of an independent secondary Indigenous school. The consultations were undertaken by the member organisations and agencies on the Steering Committee, with support from a Principal Investigator appointed by Congress, Bob Boughton, and two part-time Aboriginal Researchers seconded from their organisations, Leshay Maidment and Margaret Mary Turner. The consultations were supplemented with a review of relevant literature and policy documents, and some quantitative analysis of local and regional data on school participation and retention levels. At the conclusion of the consultations, consensus within the Steering Committee was reached on twenty four (24) recommendations, set out below. These were signed off by participating organisations, along with a suggested process for implementation. This report was then formally presented to the NT Department of Education Secondary Indigenous Reference Group for the Southern Region at its meeting on June 14th, 2001.