A group of 90 First Nations educators and senior leaders say education must be designed and delivered by First Nations communities.
Concluding the sixth Utyerre Apanpe First Nations Educators Forum in Mparntwe/Alice Springs on Friday 30 August, the group delivered a statement highlighting the challenges and barriers First Nations’ children face in education and called on the federal government to “work with us” to create a national First Nations education system.
“The government education system is failing our children. It is affecting our well-being and our spirits,” their collective statement said.
“It is keeping us in the cycle of trauma, and it continues to keep our children traumatised.”
Their call to action follows the launch of the M.K Turner report at Parliament House in Canberra earlier this year.
The report is named after the late Arrernte elder, author and artist Dr M.K Turner OAM and outlines a blueprint for nationwide First Nations-led education reform.
It was co-designed with more than 60 Indigenous educators and is supported by compelling local and international evidence, including the United Nations Declaration of Rights for Indigenous People (UNDRIP).
The forum was held amidst continued concerns around declining NAPLAN results, and the impact of the widening education gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students.
Utyerre Apanpe says the group aims to be a change-maker and has come together to establish a national First Nations Educational System.
“We are the holders of the oldest living cultural education systems in the world. Our education system comes from the land. This is where and how our children and young people grow with their identity and their knowledge,” the group said last Friday.
“Education is healing. It is a place that we want our children to feel valued, loved, and safe in their spirit. Where their knowledge will grow. We want quality education provided to all of our children and young people, on their country and homelands, in a way that recognises and protects their culture and identity.”
Recommendation for better educational outcomes
The M.K Turner report outlines six recommendations and outcomes to help overturn declining educational outcomes for First Nations’ students.
These include:
- a commitment by Australian governments to establish a new First Nations’ education system
- developing and supporting a First Nations education workforce
- recognising and partnering with an independent national First Nations governance body to develop the new First Nations’ education system
- supporting the teaching of First Nations’ languages in the new system through a new national Language of Instruction policy
- establishing a comprehensive national network of First Nations’ language and literacy centres for every Nation/language group
- establishing the M.K Turner Institute as a national centre for First Nations knowledge, practice, research, and evaluation in the new First Nations education system.
“It is time for accountability”
“The Minister for Education Jason Clare has himself recognised the serious problems in the education system. In response to the recent NAPLAN results, he said ‘your chances in life shouldn’t depend on your parents’ pay packet or the colour of your skin’, but these results again show that’s still the case,” the group’s statement said.
“It is time for accountability. We call on Minister Clare and State and Territory Ministers to listen to us. It has to be a long-term commitment.”
The group is made up of educations and leaders representing many nations but says it is connected through “country, kinship, songlines, tjukurrpa and knowledge”.
After generations of successive governments speaking for First Nations’ people, rather than listening to them, the group’s members want to see “real educational reform”.
“We are not talking about reform of the mainstream system. We want to re-establish our own systems of Education and for these to be recognised and supported across the country.” they said.
“It will take courage and a sustained commitment over a number of decades.”
Investing in the future of Indigenous children
They called for a percentage of GDP provided to the future education of Indigenous children and invested in the systems of education led and held to account by First Nations’ communities and governance systems.
“A commitment to a relationship which is built on trust, respect and Integrity,” they said, before highlighting what Human Rights, Indigenous and legal organisations have been calling for.
“Stop investing in prisons and invest in the education of our children.
“We want our children and young people to grow up in a system of education that honours their culture and identity, which provides the love, care, respect, and support that they need to succeed. We have the answers the government is looking for.”
