Election 2024: Education expert Tracy Woodroffe responds to Territory Labor, CLP plans

As the NT’s leading political parties reveal their education policy pitches 200 days out from the 2024 election, an expert has weighed in on their plans. Why she thinks the parties’ answers have only scratched the surface.

An education expert has delivered scathing criticism of the Territory’s leading political parties’ education policy pitches, 200 days out from the election.

Charles Darwin University Senior Lecturer and Researcher in Teacher Education and Indigenous Knowledges, Tracy Woodroffe, said Territory Labor’s and the CLP’s plans to address underfunding and attendance and engagement in schools only scratched the surface of each issue.

Dr Woodroffe said the CLP’s plan to reinstate truancy officers fell far below the standard that should be set for re-engaging kids with school.

“This seems like a punitive approach based on only one element of engagement, rather than funding spent on how to engage students effectively including social-emotional, and intellectual engagement – not just physical,” she said.

“There should be more done to understand why students don’t want to go to school.”

Dr Woodroffe said Territory Labor’s plans to boost school engagement – and therefore attendance – by expanding the Families as First Teachers programs and increasing the number of Aboriginal educators had room for improvement.

“Increasing the Aboriginal educator workforce is a start, but needs to extend to Fully Trained Teachers, not only Assistant Teachers,” she said.

“Programs such as Remote Aboriginal Teacher Education (RATE) should be extended to cover all regions, such as urban NT.

“Aboriginal people live throughout the NT.”

Charles Darwin University Senior Lecturer and Researcher in Teacher Education and Indigenous Knowledges Tracy Woodroffe.

Dr Woodroffe said underfunding was a “disgrace” but neither party had addressed the plethora of issues associated with the longstanding financial crisis faced by NT schools.

“Funding should allow all students to receive the best education and start in life as soon as possible,” she said.

“Funding needs to provide for as much differentiation as possible because every student is important, and they are not all the same.”

A Territory Labor spokesperson said the party hoped to raise school funding to meet 100 per cent of the Schooling Resource Standard – in 2023, the NT lagged at 77 per cent, the lowest in the country.

The spokesperson said the party would move to an enrolment-based – instead of attendance-based – funding model in order to reach the SRS.

Dr Woodroffe said a needs-based enrolment model would be more inclusive of enrolled students but would not address engagement – and by extension, academic performance.

“A Territory education funding system must include funding that ensures greater equity and that individual student needs are met through school strategies, and teacher training in cultural responsiveness,” she said.

“The yearly national standardised assessment (NAPLAN) results show that there is a cultural divide in our Australian education system with Indigenous students assessed as performing below their non-Indigenous peers.”

In 2023, 1361 students received their NTCET, including just 212 Aboriginal graduates.

Meanwhile, the CLP spokesperson said the party’s approach to education underfunding would give teachers “financial certainty” with permanent roles but failed to address ongoing retention issues or SRS shortfalls.

It was revealed in January that the Education Department was redeploying corporate staff into schools to plug gaps in the school-based workforce.

Dr Woodroffe said it was “fine” to offer greater financial security to teachers but the true focus should be on reducing transience.

“Teachers who come from interstate may be less likely to stay whether they have permanent employment or not,” she said.

“Quality teachers are a requirement for effective learning, this strategy doesn’t necessarily address teacher quality.”

The story summary was created with the assistance of AI technology (PaLM2) then edited and approved for publication by an editor.