Rural and Remote Education - NT
Rural and Remote
Education - NT
Daguragu community meeting,
13 May 1999 - notes
The Daguragu Community
was set up after the Walk-Off in 1967. The Walpiri people live at Kalkaringi
and the Gurindji people live at Daguragu.
Most of the community
resources are located at Kalkaringi although the CDEP program operates
from Daguragu. The primary school is located at Kalkaringi. There is no
secondary school. Children wanting to continue to secondary school are
sent away to Kormilda College or Yirara College. One child is engaged
in secondary education in Kalkaringi through correspondence school.
Access to education
"Most of the children
here do nothing. We need to tell everyone in Australia that we need to
look into education here because there is no secondary education. Our
kids have a primary school at Kalkaringi, but they don't have a high school.
So they go to Kormilda or Yirara and then they get homesick. They come
back and then they do nothing. We are looking to the parents to push this
issue because they are the ones with concern for the kids."
"When these kids
get to another college they get mixed up with Walpiri people and they
start fighting. That's no good. We're not like white people. You have
your kids over there and you have your school for them and the kids have
got to go right through school. But here, everybody is sent away to Kormilda
or Yirara."
"If we had a district
school we would want our kids to go to the local primary school here and
then we would like them to go to Katherine so that they can be together."
"We want our school
at Katherine to be a boarding school that our kids could stay at. Katherine
is very close. It would be the best place for the school. There are Gurindji
people living in Katherine and so it is better for our kids. Yirara is
too far away for us to see our children."
"If the children
are homesick it is only a four hour drive from here to see them. And there
is family there. The Gurindji and the Walpiri people who live in Katherine
are family. When the kids are in Katherine we have people and family travelling
there all the time. They feel closer to their family and their traditional
land."
"In the past our
children used to go to Alice Springs for School, but they don't go there
now."
"My daughter needs
to be close to me. When she was at Kormilda it was too far away. She needs
to be with me. It takes too long to get plane tickets to bring the homesick
children home. Then when they are home they worry about getting back to
school though sometimes this takes weeks."
Attendance
"We have a good primary
school here but there is poor attendance. I think the idea of working
towards getting a high school is good and worthy, but I think we've got
to work towards getting them to a high school standard first. We need
to work together with the school and the community to improve this situation,
we have to make more of the opportunity that we have. We have an excellent
facility at the school as I understand. To me it seems like a tragedy
that we have a good school here but it is not being used to anything like
its full capacity. Talking about getting kids to high school is a bit
of a dream if we can't get them to Year 6 or 7."
Schooling away from
home
"Children are sent
away from home for their secondary schooling due to social reasons and
also so that the children can have the opportunity to engage in sport."
"In some cases girls
of 12, 13, and 14 are sent away from the community to avoid a promised
marriage to an older man. This can cause tension in the community."
Disability
"There is one child
from the Daguragu community with special needs. He is participating in
mainstream classes with a special education teacher. The child has learned
how to sign."
"Ear and eye problems
are common amongst the children in Daguragu. Hearing is tested through
the school. Trachoma is also evident in the community."
School incentive
programs
"The Land Council
is planning a meeting of parents with school age children. The school
wants to work with the Land Council and the community to develop incentive
programs through recreation. Other incentives may include privileges through
education such as access to the shop. Children not attending school would
be denied access to the shop."
Community concerns
Participants at the
meetings in both Daguragu and Kalkaringi discussed issues relating to
cultural disjuncture between school life and community life. The Western
system of schooling is in many respects at odds with traditional Aboriginal
life. Thirteen to fourteen year old people are considered adults in some
Aboriginal communities. These young people may have been through ceremony,
and some may have children of their own. Within their home community these
young people may be participating in community life as young adults.
Western value systems
and Western education reinforce the notion that at this age group, young
people are not yet adults. The structures of discipline, paternalism and
control can be very insulting to young people who may consider themselves
adults.
Literacy levels are
very low amongst the children in the community. There are many skilled
people in their 30s and 40s in the community but the community is concerned
that there is a lack of skilled young people to take over the leadership
roles. Community elders fear the loss of Aboriginalisation of the community.
They fear that the traditional ways will be eroded if leadership does
not emerge through the younger people.
Last
updated 2 December 2001.