COVID-19 threw plenty of curve balls at educators and students alike but the Northern Territory had some pleasing 2020 outcomes
IT WAS one of the most hectic years for education in recent history, thanks to the chaos of COVID-19. Here we reflect on some of the BIGGEST MOMENTS in the Territory’s education system in 2020
Northern Territory
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THE coronavirus pandemic sent every aspect of the Northern Territory spiralling, especially education.
Schools were forced to adapt to new practices to keep their students and staff safe and attendance dropped to startling lows but despite this our education system prospered and made some historic firsts.
Here’s how the year unravelled.
Empty classrooms
School attendance dropped dramatically at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in Term 1. On the last Monday of Term 1, 6.3 per cent of students went to school compared to 27.7 per cent just days before. In Darwin, 5.5 per cent of students attended while in the Palmerston and rural region just 6.4 per cent went to school. On the same day, 95 per cent of Leanyer Primary School students stayed home after a student’s family members tested positive for COVID-19.
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A new leader appointed
Karen Weston was named the NT Education Department’s new chief executive in March following the retirement of former leader Vicki Baylis. Ms Weston has more than 20 years experience in education.
She led reforms in programs, including early childhood, inclusion and an Aboriginal Kindergarten-to-Year-12 lifelong education strategy with South Australia’s Department for Education, and holds a Master of Education. One of her main priorities since stepping into the Northern Territory role is improving and sustaining school attendance.
School is compulsory
In the last weeks of Term 1 it was a tense time for educators and families as jurisdictions went into lockdown and schools closed. Southerners were forced to begin preparing to homeschool their children while Territorians were warned they could meet the same fate. After Territorians began kicking and screaming for clarity, then-Education Minister Selena Uibo confirmed in the last week of Term 1 that school attendance would be compulsory for Term 2. Students were expected to physically go to classrooms, while exceptions could be made for parents who informed the school their child would be learning from home.
Retro program makes a comeback
On the campus grounds of the Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education, Ms Uibo announced the groundbreaking Remote Aboriginal Teacher Education program would be reinstated through a trial in 2021. The program ran in the 1980s and 90s and provided employment pathways for remote residents to pursue a career in education. It will be delivered in partnership with Charles Darwin University and the Batchelor Institute.
A high level of anxiety
A bombshell survey conducted by the Australian Education Union NT revealed almost 70 per cent of union participants felt extremely or somewhat unsafe about schools being open in Term 2. The interim results, with more than 700 members taking part, showed only 20 per cent of respondents agreed schools should open in Term 2. Union president Jarvis Ryan told the NT News at the time it was apparent there were “very high levels of anxiety” among teachers, parents and staff.
The first in the country
In Term 2 the Territory was the first jurisdiction in Australia to have schools get back to business as usual. The NT Education Department had firm advice from the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee that schools were safe to remain open and if students didn’t attend a please explain would be asked of parents.
Titan hands over the reigns
Haileybury Rendall School principal Craig Glass announced in June he would resign in December after three prosperous years. In 2018 Mr Glass was given the momentous task of establishing Haileybury Rendall after the school took over the declining Kormilda College.
Mr Glass said his proudest achievement was growing the school’s cohort from 250 to 770 in just three years, and offering Territory families a high-quality academic experience. Independent school educator Andrew McGregor is Haileybury’s new leader.
A new Minister steps up
In a shake-up following the Territory general election, Lauren Moss was named the Territory’s new Education Minister while her predecessor Ms Uibo became Attorney-General.
Ms Moss was previously Tourism, Sport and Culture Minister. Her priorities include improving attendance and retaining Year 12 graduates in the Territory.
The VC takes his final bow
After seven years at the helm, Charles Darwin University (CDU) vice-chancellor Simon Maddocks announced in September his plan to resign at the end of 2020. In a video message to staff and students he said the COVID-19 pandemic made him reassess his priorities, having been separated from his family — including two new grandsons — for five months.
Professor Maddocks had an interesting tenure at CDU, and his resignation was later cited as the only positive event to happen at the university in 2020 by National Tertiary Education Union NT industrial officer Heinz Schmitt.
Changing things around
In September, CDU announced it would undergo a major restructure of its Vocational Educational and Training (VET) and Higher Education sectors in a big to get its ballooning budget under control. The restructure proposed to save $10m by cutting 77 staff positions and 19 of CDU’s 199 VET courses. The final restructure plan was released in November, with almost half of the axed staff volunteering to take redundancy.
Please stop for a second
Three major unions involved with CDU’s staff restructure all agreed the university should go into caretaker mode and put all proposed changes on hold until a new vice-chancellor is recruited.
Representatives from the National Tertiary Education Union, Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation and Australian Education Union told the NT News the changes were inhumane to implement before Christmas, and they could be out of line with the new Vice-Chancellor’s vision. CDU continued with the restructure.
Historic new campus breaks ground
Construction began on CDU’s new $250m Darwin City campus in October, with local business DTA Contractors beginning with the site works and main building excavation.
The project will create 350 on-site jobs and a further 380 jobs across the supply chain through to 2024, making it one of the biggest building projects undertaken in Darwin during recent times.
Bring them back home
Data from the Education Department’s 2019-20 Annual Report revealed it helped 924 boarding school students return to their local communities during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The mammoth effort largely brought students back to remote communities Minyerri, Yuendumu, Borroloola, Elliott, Milikapiti, Pirlangimpi and Warruwi.
You’ve got to splash some cash to keep ’em
In November the NT government allocated a hefty $5.2m of the Education Department’s $1.1bn budget to try get school leavers to stay in the Territory instead of flocking interstate. The Get SET in the NT program comprises 100 12-month traineeship places in the public service for Territory school leavers and 10 full scholarships for top-performing students at CDU. It also gives industry groups such as NT Farmers access to school leavers to tell them about opportunities within the Territory.
First international students come to NT
CDU became the first university in Australia to welcome back international students after flying a cohort from Singapore to Darwin in November.
The 63 students from mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan, Vietnam and Indonesia, who were quarantined at Howard Springs for 14 days at CDU’s expense, were part of the university’s pilot program to kickstart international education. CDU plans to expand the program in 2021.
Remote students make history
History was made at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Thamarrurr Catholic College in Wadeye, 400km from Darwin, after seven students became the school’s the first cohort to graduate since 2007.
The school’s last graduate was a single student in 2014, and deputy principal Matthew Spring said it was the culmination of “a lot of hard work”, efforts by staff and improvements to students’ learning.
Students back in the classroom
In Term 3 more than 1600 students across 36 remote government schools were reconnected back into education in a targeted effort to improve attendance. The NT Education Department’s Own Our Own program helps empower schools to provide individualised responses to students’ attendance and engagement needs.
Data from Shepherdson College in Galiwin’ku revealed an astounding 122 out of 123 students were re-engaged back with the school since Term 1.
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Seniors farewell this hellish year
Senior Northern Territory students farewelled undoubtedly one of the toughest years of their school careers thus far. A total 1610 students were awarded with the Northern Territory Certificate of Education and Training, up from 156 last year.
This included 267 Aboriginal students, an increase of 40 on 2019. The highest scoring student was Laura Chapman from Darwin High School, who achieved an ATAR of 99.85 and a university aggregate of 88.85.
Palmo’s newest school
The final stage of Palmerston’s newest school Zuccoli Primary was completed prior to Christmas.
The $18m stage 2 project, awarded to Sunbuild, included eight additional classrooms, an administration building and a library. The school initially opened in 2020 with a preschool and eight primary classrooms.
Zuccoli Primary now has capacity for 430 primary students and 88 preschoolers.
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