Yirrkala Homelands, 12 May 1999 - notes
The Inquiry visited four of the homeland centres surrounding Yirrkala: GanGan, Dhuruputjpi, Barraratjpi and Banigala
GanGan
The homeland communities all have a traditional societal structure. One family takes the role of leadership in the community. Leadership is different from organisation, however, and the organisation of the community and community tasks is carried out by another individual in the community.
There is one school at GanGan. Twenty-six students attend the school and two teachers provide the tuition. The children attending the school have a range of skills and expertise and this requires that the teachers provide education at a range of different levels.
Children with special needs
A number of children at the homeland communities have hearing problems. Mats have been put on the floors of the classrooms to reduce ambient noise. Children with more severe disabilities are not accessing education at GanGan. A child with a disability may be kept at home and therefore not come to the attention of the school.
Dhuruputjpi
There is no school at this community. There are 5 children between the ages of 8 and 12; 4 children who fit into the post primary category, 16 to 17 and there are 4 children under the age of 6. The older children are currently at Banigala for their schooling. There are other older children at this community who do not want schooling.
Banigala
Children come from other homeland communities to attend school at Banigala. There is good community support and good support from parents. Families travel with their children to Banigala to enable their children to attend school. This means some inconvenience and travel for community members as communities are too far away from each other to be travelled between in a day. No funding requirements apply to the families that must relocate for education.
There are regular visiting teachers who stay 2 to 3 nights. The community welcomes the visiting teachers and would like them to remain in the community for longer periods of time.
The community hopes for a "strong future" though the Land Council Chairman at Banigala spoke of the difficulty of living in "two worlds"
The Banigala School has two separate classes.
- Preschool and grades 1 and 2
- Grades 3, 4, 5, 6
The school requires education beyond Year 6, as the secondary age students are not receiving enough tuition. The educational levels are set in the Homeland Area Centres using 'Outcomes Profiling' and they do not equate to the year levels elsewhere. The Department of Education regards the school as a primary school regardless of the fact that there are a number of secondary age children attending the school. There are also 19 and 20-year-old students attending the school in order to improve their literacy in Yolngu and in English. This is known as 'Catch-Up' education. The difficulty for these students is that there is no other educational facility for them to attend.
Staffing levels
Staffing numbers are based on student numbers regardless of the differing age groups and abilities of the students. Children from the age of 4 to 17 are considered school age for the purposes of funding. The Homeland Schools cater for a number of students who are older than 17 and have decided to return to school to 'catch up'.
The staffing formula for the Homelands schools is 1 staff member per 17 students. The formula for visiting teachers is 1 staff member per 22 students. The Homeland schools want the NT Government to reconsider its staffing formula, and to reduce the number of students per staff member.
In order to establish a school there must be 12 school age children. After establishment, if the numbers drop below 8 the school will be closed. The formula for 12 children per school is based upon attendance over a 6-month period, not enrolment.
Boarding schools
Homeland children have tried to attend boarding schools but this has been unsuccessful. The travelling distances have been too great and the children have found the separation from their communities too difficult.
Homelands school proposal
In 199_ the homeland communities put a proposal to the Northern Territory Government for a school to be located in the centre of the Homelands. This would mean that children could board at the school during the week and return home for weekends. The distances would not be too great and the children would still feel part of their community. The Homelands residents likened it to the Batchelor Abstudy funded trips/travel model. No distinction would be made between Secondary, Tertiary and Vocational Education & Training students.
The school proposal was rejected in 1996. The communities would now like to revisit this proposal with the NT Government.
The schools
The schools at the Homelands are located at GanGan and Banigala. Both schools provide primary education.
Teaching is in both Yolngu and English. Yolngu is used for instruction though English is also an important focus. The Homelands schools have never been registered as bilingual schools.
Last updated 2 December 2001.
