A new education strategy aiming to lift school attendance in the Northern Territory has been launched today.
Minister Lauren Moss visited Centralian Middle School to announce the plan, which will span over ten years and will cost ten million dollars.
The plan will engage two-way learning and back bilingual learning in both schools and through the Australian curriculum and also invest in more school counselors and Aboriginal educators and partner with Aboriginal health organisations to support student wellbeing.
The plan results from community consultation and research from academics and researchers with expertise in Aboriginal education.
Launching a new 10-year “engagement strategy” this week, NT Education Minister Lauren Moss said the plan would focus on strengthening Indigenous culture and language in schools and increasing the Aboriginal teaching workforce.
The Strategy’s five elements are:
- foundations – Indigenous children entering primary schooling have the skills and attributes they need to succeed in their education
- essentials – Indigenous students achieve age benchmarks in literacy and numeracy in their primary years of schooling and plan for their secondary education with confidence
- pathways – Indigenous students complete schooling well equipped to take up employment, training and higher education opportunities
- engagement – Indigenous children at all stages of schooling attend school regularly and
are supported in their education by their families and community - workforce – Indigenous student outcomes are improved through a consistent system-wide approach to providing highly skilled and motivated educators and leaders.