New chance for remote children

As Anthony Albanese says, his government is giving disproportionate student funding to the Northern Territory “in recognition of the disadvantage which is there”. The Prime Minister is correct – one size does not fit all in addressing what is needed to improve facilities and opportunities closer to the standards provided in other parts of the nation. That was shown in The Australian’s NT Schools in Crisis investigation last year. It revealed remote Indigenous schools running without the most basic services and staff – power, water or registered teachers – with a funding shortfall of $214m a year.

Starting in the May budget, the Albanese government will provide the Territory with an extra $738m across the next five years, doubling its share of funding to cover 40 per cent of running costs for public schools. And the Territory government will boost spending by $350m between next year and 2029 to make students “job ready” when they finish school.

Indigenous children deserve no less than long-term, effective strategies, rather than quick Band-Aid measures. Good education, backed in with better attendance rates, should help today’s children in remote communities gain access to jobs, training and higher education opportunities.

But schools, communities and authorities must address truancy. Indigenous school attendance rates are just 59 per cent in the Territory up to year 10, Natasha Bita reported on Wednesday. Non-Indigenous students attend 89 per cent of the time. About four out of five Aboriginal children in the Territory missed at least a month of lessons last year. A typical Aboriginal child starting high school in the NT has the reading ability of a non-Indigenous year 3 student nationally, based on NAPLAN tests.

Federal Education Minister Jason Clare is right to focus on improving literacy and numeracy, student wellbeing and supporting teachers in some of the nation’s toughest classrooms. As Mr Albanese said, education and equality go hand-in-hand.