Public meeting in Normanton, 5 October 1999 - notes
The community meeting was attended by approximately 15 people including community health workers, teachers, parents and members of the local Indigenous community. From HREOC: Chris Sidoti, Human Rights Commissioner; Lady Pearl Logan, Queensland Co-Commissioner; and two Commission staff.
School attendance
"Attendance at the school in Normanton is poor."
"The rate of absenteeism is much higher for Indigenous children."
"Some children don't attend school because they don't have adequate clothing."
"Many of the Indigenous parents did not have happy experiences at school themselves. This makes them less likely to encourage their own children to attend school. Building up parents' confidence in the school system takes work and effort."
Relations between the school and the community
"Teachers do not form links with Aboriginal community members. Most parents of Indigenous children do not know their children's teachers."
"If there isn't a decent relationship between the school and the community then you might as well not send your kids to school. We only get invited to the school when our kids are in trouble. They never tell us when the kids do something good."
"For a while there were regular barbeques for parents and teachers to get to know each other. They were funded by ASSPA [Aboriginal Student Support and Parent Awareness]. However, they have since fallen by the wayside."
"Indigenous parents should be invited to the school to participate in school activities. Some of the white parents participate in reading classes. If parents cannot read, then they should be supported to become involved in other school activities such as art or sports."
"If you could encourage just a few parents to meet the teachers it might catch on and you would find that parents would have a more positive attitude to the school."
"When local people meet with the school to discuss problems and issues, it should not be at the school. Meetings should be held on neutral ground, somewhere in the community."
"Once kids start seeing parents and teachers getting on better, their attendance will improve."
"The community has had to fight hard for decent conditions at the school, yet I've only ever thought of it as the teachers' school and not the community's school. The teachers come and go but the community will always be there. We should be able to feel that it is our school."
Teachers
"Experienced teachers do not want to come to places like Normanton."
"Newly graduated teachers who come to work here need mentors to guide and advise them. They should each have one of the existing teachers appointed as their mentor."
"If the teachers were more caring there would be better relations between blacks and whites at the school and in the community."
"Many teachers have done Aboriginal Studies but it does not seem to be reflected in the way they respond to Indigenous children."
"Teachers need to focus their attention on what Indigenous children can do and not what they cannot do."
"I'm very concerned about class size. Some of the classes are too big."
Access to secondary education
"In the Croydon Shire we only have a primary school."
Indigenous culture and language
"There is no teaching of Aboriginal culture at Normanton or Croydon, except during NAIDOC week."
"Our children study Indonesian and other languages at school, but they don't learn Aboriginal languages. They should be able to study their own language."
Educational curriculum
"Schools need to put more energy into literacy and numeracy for kids."
"Girls here are not discouraged from doing traditionally male subjects. Some girls have attended woodwork classes at the school."
Drugs, alcohol and suicide
"Drugs - mainly marijuana - are coming into the community at a huge rate. It is no surprise to walk down the street and see someone smoking marijuana."
"There are children as young as nine years who are taking drugs and not attending school."
"Drug taking has contributed to under-age sex in the community."
"An Aboriginal Drug and Alcohol Liaison Officer has been appointed in the community but the situation has not improved."
"There are drug and alcohol programs for young people but they don't address the needs of Indigenous youth."
"We have a very high rate of youth suicide here. It is mostly males in the 16-20 year age range. Some of it is drug and alcohol related but not all of it. There are no youth suicide prevention programs operating in the community. We need more counselling and other support services for these young people."
"There are no debriefing programs for children at school after suicide and other critical incidents."
"We need more preventive services for young people and not just 'band-aid' responses after the event."
Health issues
"Every two or three weeks a dentist from Karumba visits Normanton. To get an appointment you have to book very early otherwise you miss out."
"The flying doctor visits Normanton every fortnight. His work includes immunisation of children. The school works with the hospital to follow up families for the purpose of immunisation. We have a 98% immunisation rate."
"Up until 12 months ago we hadn't had an optometrist visit here for four years. This is unsatisfactory as glaucoma is a very serious problem in the community."
"The child health service from Mt Isa visits once a year and does full health checks on the children."
"There is an urgent need for a labour ward in the community. When a woman has a baby she has to leave the community for up to four weeks or even longer. This places a great strain on families."
Boarding school
"There is insufficient support for remote children who move to the city on their own to further their education. This is one of the reasons why they have a high drop-out rate. Some kind of support system should be set up for them. It is needed by those who go to boarding school as well as those who board with relatives."
"I worked at a boarding school for 15 years. A lot of children who came to boarding school from remote communities did not last there. They left school and went back because they missed their family and friends. These kids have a strong connection with their community so it is difficult for them when they leave. If they had support groups to help them they might be able to cope better at boarding school."
"I don't want my child to have to leave Normanton after Year 10 to go to boarding school. I would like him to be able to do the last 2 years of school here, not through distance education but at a real school."
"Many Indigenous children have their first experience of serious racism at boarding school, away from the support of their family and community."
"Boarding schools have a much wider range of subject choice than local schools in Normanton and other communities."
"At boarding school if children are weak in a particular subject they can usually get some remedial teaching. It is much harder to get that kind of support at local schools."
"Only 3 or 4 Indigenous children from Normanton would go on to do Years 11 and 12 each year. At boarding school, they put you into the subjects they think you should do."
Technology
"There is very low use of information technology and telecommunications in Normanton and surrounding areas. Internet use is very low. Public phones are all dial phones."
"The technology that is available to rural and remote communities is under-used."
"The school years are vital for helping children familiarise themselves with technology. Distance education should include a greater component of computer education."
Distance education
"I applied for my son to be admitted to distance education. It is now eight weeks and I still haven't received an answer."
"We get very little advice about how to access distance education. Many people don't know where the various schools are located, how to apply to them and how to find out about the programs they offer."
"There should be support groups for remote children and their parents involved in distance education, with people to facilitate the groups."
"Parents and others providing tuition at home for children undertaking distance education should be given more support. There is some support at the primary level, though not enough. There is even less support at secondary level."
Climate
"The high temperatures we get here make learning very difficult. The school is air-conditioned but many of the children come from homes that are too hot."
"The school timetable should be flexible enough to cater for community needs and circumstances. In the summer it gets very hot, so the school would be better off commencing classes early and finishing at around 2.00pm. Another option might be to close the school during summer and have longer hours during winter."
"The kids should have their long break at around 10.30am before it is too hot."
"School term dates should also be flexible enough to cater for the wet season, when many children are not able to travel to school because of prolonged flooding."
"Some of the classes are too long for children's concentration span, especially when the weather is very hot."
"When kids go to school during the wet season they often arrive at school soaked. This is dangerous for their health. We need a bus service to pick the kids up and drop them home. They get exhausted in the hot season and drenched in the wet season."
Homelands education
"There should be more homelands programs for children from remote Indigenous communities. If these children could receive their education from teachers sent out to their homeland rather than at a school, they would be more motivated and less distracted. They would be studying in their own environment close to their family and support networks."
TAFE
"We have a TAFE College in Normanton but it is very difficult to attract good staff. The availability of TAFE courses is limited very much by our ability to get appropriate staff."
"The TAFE College should be more supportive of students in the Remote Area Teacher Education Program (RATEP). It would be really helpful to them if they could use some of the facilities at TAFE."
Last updated 2 December 2001.
