Indigenous Education Strategy

The Northern Territory Government commissioned the A Share in the Future Review in 2013 to get an informed understanding of the impact of programs and initiatives and to make recommendations to optimise education and training outcomes for Indigenous students.

A review of Indigenous education in the Northern Territory (NT), published in 2014, made a number of recommendations which were endorsed by the government.

A 10-year Indigenous Education Strategy was developed to implement these recommendations.

The Indigenous Education Strategy outlines the Department of Education and Training’s commitment to the NT Government Everyone Together: Aboriginal Affairs Strategy 2019-2029 and the NT’s commitment to national initiatives such as Closing the Gap.

Implementation plan

The Indigenous Education Strategy framework was designed for delivery in 4 stages.

Stage 1: 2015 – 2017 (completed)
Stage 2: 2018 – 2020 (operational activities extended)
Stage 3: 2021 – 2023 (timeframe revised)
Stage 4: 2024 - Final evaluation

The strategy’s 5 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.

Stage 1

The 3-year delivery of stage one was completed in 2017.

An external evaluation of stage one was conducted by ACIL Allen Consulting in partnership with the Batchelor Institute.

Further information:

Stage 2

Consultations with stakeholders, including school communities and the external evaluation, collectively informed the development of stage 2 of the strategy. Stage 2 implementation incorporated the government’s commitment to community engagement and local decision-making including community-led schools.

Stage 2 has been extended and the operational activities are continuing, including:

Families as First Teachers program
remote Aboriginal Teacher education
transition support to improve the transition of our remote young people to middle and high school
support for community engagement and local decision making in our schools.

These operational activities all continue to be delivered and implemented throughout the NT.

The NT Education Engagement Strategy

In 2022, the Department of Education and Training developed the NT Education Engagement Strategy 2022-2031.

Developed through the guidance from an expert education reference group and education leaders reference group, the strategy reflects the voices heard through broad consultation of students, young children, families, community, and key stakeholders in the NT.

There is a strong alignment between the key programs of the Indigenous Education Strategy and and deliverables of the Engagement Strategy, with both aiming to improve engagement in education across the NT education sector.

Table 1: Alignment between key programs of the Indigenous Education Strategies and deliverables of the Engagement Strategy
Indigenous Education Strategy	Education Engagement Strategy 2022-2031
Engagement and Attendance Strategies	Goal One – Education is a Partnership Key Deliverables: Work with communities, taking a place-based approach, to embed cultural and two-way learning in and through the curriculum Establish a Youth Voice Peak Group Establish an Aboriginal education advisory group in Darwin, Top End, East Arnhem, Big Rivers, Barkly and Central
Remote Aboriginal Teacher Education and Assistant Teacher Development	Goal 2 – The Right People Key Deliverable: Expand the Remote Aboriginal Teacher Education program to increase the number of Aboriginal educators in the NT
Community Engagement and Local Decision Making	Goal One – Education is a Partnership Key Deliverable: Establish an Aboriginal education advisory group in Darwin, Top End, East Arnhem, Big Rivers, Barkly and Central

For more information on the NT Education Engagement Strategy 2022 to 2031.

Review of Indigenous Engagement Strategy

Upon planning for stage 3, it was recommended that a long-term summative review be developed.

In the interim it was agreed to continue the stage 2 operational activities while the department plans the review of the Indigenous Engagement Strategy deliverables.

Further information:

Stage 2 plan PDF (105.5 KB)

Contact

Strategic Engagement Partnerships
Phone: 08 8944 9365
engagementstrat.doe@education.nt.gov.au.

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