Communities trial works, despite hiccups
19.09.2009
A YEAR ago, when cutting welfare to parents who don't send their children to school was introduced on a trial basis in four Aboriginal communities in Cape York, alarm was raised that
the measure was racist and unenforceable.
There have been hiccups, but the aim of the scheme is being achieved: children are attending school.
The simple view is that it is not too much to expect parents to ensure children attend school, but the issue is much more complex.
It should also be remembered that it is not ``one strike and you are out''.
If a child misses school on a number of occasions without a legitimate reason, responsible appointed people interview the parents to see if help is needed.
And it is only after a specific course of discussion that any action is taken to suspend welfare payments.
That is the penalty side of the debate.
The more important aspect to be dealt with is what Kevin Rudd referred to a fortnight ago in a different but entirely relevant context: making teachers and schools accountable for student performance. Too many teachers deliberately identify strategies to marginalise students who are ``difficult'', slow learners, disruptive in class or poor attenders.
At Aurukun State School on western Cape York, principal Liz Mackie introduced a system of ``no suspensions, no exclusions''.
Students are told that no matter what they do, they will not be suspended; their conduct might lead to them being interviewed by police and even appearing in court, but the next day they are to turn up to school, because the Mackie view is that if you show children that you ``will love them whatever'' and that they are valued, they will respond. And they do.
The initiative of Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin asks this of the school systems: ``Do the teachers believe the children can learn, and are they the kind of teachers who can teach them?''
Indigenous academic and educator Chris Sarra has been beating this drum for years, telling students they have to be ``strong and smart'', they must be proud of their heritage and believe in, and value, themselves. The corollary he demands is that teachers accept those words are actually mission statements, and not just T-shirt slogans.
A month ago, Dr Sarra said he had seen school principals come to remote Cape York communities and deliver chronic failure for five years straight, and then get promoted out of the Cape.
The truth is that in schooling in Australia, children not in the mould of middle-class perfection are left to struggle and fail, unless they have the uncommon fortune to encounter a teacher who cares and will take up the challenge.
