National Indigenous English Literacy and Numeracy Strategy (NIELNS)

The objective of the National Indigenous English Literacy and Numeracy Strategy is to achieve English literacy and numeracy for Indigenous students at levels comparable to those achieved by other young Australians.

The strategy acknowledges that extra effort is required by education providers for Indigenous students to be successful and aims to address six key elements:

The six key elements

1. Achieving Attendance     
2. Overcoming Hearing, Health and Nutrition Problems    
3. Pre-schooling Experiences    
4. Getting Good Teachers     
5. Using the Best Teaching Methods    
6. Measuring Success, Achieving Accountability    

Key Element 1 – Achieving Attendance 

The national average attendance rate of Indigenous school students is two to three times lower than the corresponding rate for non-Indigenous students. This means that, on average, Indigenous students are missing out on more than a year’s schooling in the primary years and more than a year in secondary years. 

Objective

The first step in implementing the Strategy is to increase the attendance rate of Indigenous students through the active support of a greater number of parents of Indigenous students and community members for their children’s education. In doing so, the aim is to ensure that students are learning in an environment of positive expectation. 

Initiatives

• Improving attendance levels by engaging parents and the community;
• Ensuring parents have the skills and confidence to support their children’s education;
• Implementing a student tracking and support system;
• Increasing school attendance monitoring and reporting;
• Greater flexibility in preschool and school organisation to meet Indigenous community cultural and other needs;
• Utilising the skills of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education workers to improve attendance levels;
• Providing mentoring projects for students, using the skills and leadership of Indigenous Elders and community leaders;
• Providing structured workplace learning opportunities and school-to-work pathways;
• Adopting best practice teaching methods in the classroom activities to lift the expectations of parents, teachers and the students themselves;
• Putting a greater focus on ensuring culturally inclusive approaches to education planning and delivery; and
• Supporting families and parents to overcome the social problems that make it difficult for them to get involved in their children’s education.

Key Element 2 – Overcoming Hearing, Health and Nutrition Problems

Compared to their non-Indigenous peers, there is a high level of significant hearing disability among Indigenous students. Among Indigenous Australian children, especially those living in remote communities, the prevalence of middle ear infection can range from 40% to 70% of the population, with younger children experiencing more frequent episodes. Children with the most severe hearing loss may not attend school at all.

Objective

To achieve effective join action between government agencies and communities to address the health needs of students so that health problems do not impede learning. 

Initiatives

• Introduction of effective hearing assessments and interventions linked with best practice literacy and numeracy; 
• Regular health screening programs for primary school children as they enter school;
• School nutrition programs; and
• Nutrition and health communication strategies
   

Key Element 3 – Pre-schooling Experiences

By Year 3 in primary school there are already significant gaps between the literacy levels of Indigenous students and those of other students. Results from the 1999 Year 3 Reading National Benchmark assessments showed that only 66.1% of Indigenous students achieved the benchmark compared with 86.9% of all students at the national level. There is a need to ensure Indigenous students get the confidence and skills they need to succeed at primary school. There is clearly a need to lift the preschool participation levels of Indigenous students.

Objective

To increase the proportion of the Indigenous 3 to 5 year old population in preschool education and ensure those students are confident and competent to enter primary school. 

Initiatives

• Working with States and Territories to increase preschool participation levels; and
• Getting students ready for school and extending successful preschool teaching practices. 

Key Element 4 – Getting Good Teachers 

A good teacher can overcome many of the negative effects caused by the problems and barriers facing Indigenous children. Good teachers can improve students’ learning. Indigenous students are frequently taught in an environment of low expectation. Non-Indigenous teachers can often find it difficult to adopt culturally-inclusive, appropriate and effective approaches with Indigenous students without adequate training and preparation. Research suggests that only about half the universities in Australia offer teaching courses that include Aboriginal or Indigenous Studies as a core component.

Objective

To have the best teachers, suitably skilled and paid, in the areas with the greatest needs – and keeping them there.

Initiatives

• Improve teachers’ preparation and quality by facilitating increased adoption of Indigenous Studies as a core subject in university teacher degree programs;
• Improving teacher recruitment, placement and retention approaches;
• Supporting high quality teaching; and
• Supporting stronger school leadership. 
   

Key Element 5 – Using the Best Teaching Methods

The aim of this element is to achieve widespread recognition and acceptance of methods which have been shown to improve, rapidly and effectively, literacy and numeracy levels for Indigenous students.

Objective

To secure the use in classrooms of teaching methods that have been shown to improve student literacy and numeracy outcomes. 

Initiatives

• Improving teaching practices in literacy and numeracy education.

Key Element 6 – Measuring Success, Achieving Accountability

In the Year 2000, the assessment of all students’ literacy skills against an agreed national benchmark will take place for Year 3 and 5 students. Further work continues in establishing numeracy benchmarks and literacy standards in other years.

Objective

To measure progress in each of the Key Elements of the Strategy to allow for improved effectiveness and achievement over time.

Initiatives

• Improving mainstream programme accountability and using comprehensive outcomes-focussed, performance measurement frameworks. 

From Indigenous Australians supporting this Strategy

Our people have the right to a good education. Our children need the skills, experiences and qualifications to be able to choose their futures. Our communities need young people coming through with the education and confidence to be effective leaders. We need young people who can be advocates for our people, able to take their place in Australian society and business and still keep their culture strong. 

Over the past 30 years, despite some public perceptions to the contrary, a great deal of progress has been made in increasing the education levels of Indigenous Australians. 

• Participation in early childhood and primary schooling has improved dramatically.
• Year 12 retention rates have shifted from single digits to about 32% in 1998.
• The involvement of Indigenous parents and communities in education has increased, with over 3,800 parent committees in 1998 (run through the Aboriginal Student Support and Parent Awareness programme), covering about 105,000 Indigenous school and preschool students.
• Indigenous participation in university courses has increased from under 100 people 30 years ago to some 7,800 in 1998.
• The participation rates of Indigenous 15 to 24-year-olds in vocational education and training have actually reached levels about the same as for other Australians. 

However, we still have a long way to go. A few facts help to understand the magnitude of the barriers faced by our people in trying to take their rightful places in the Australian community. 

Indigenous Australians…

• are less likely to get a preschool education
• are well behind in literacy and numeracy skills development before they leave primary school
• have less access to secondary school in the communities in which they live
• are absent from school two to three times more often than other students
• leave school much younger
• are less than half as likely to go through to Year 12
• are far more likely to be doing bridging and basic entry programmes in universities and vocational education and training institutions
• obtain fewer and lower-level education qualifications
• are far less likely to get a job, even when they have the same qualifications as others
• earn less income
• have poorer housing
• experience more and graver health problems, and
• have higher mortality rates than other Australians. 

It is clear that more needs to be done to improve our people’s educational opportunities. It is also clear we need to ensure that Indigenous Australian children succeed in schooling and have the skills to enjoy a more secure economic, social and cultural future.

This Australian Government National Indigenous English Literacy and Numeracy Strategy (NIELNS) is a positive step towards improving education outcomes for our people. It sets out a clear objective: that our people reach comparable levels of literacy and numeracy to other Australians. Lifting school attendance rates is a crucial element in reaching this goal.

This Strategy aims to increase the involvement of the parents, families and communities of Indigenous children in all aspects of education planning and delivery.

Achieving the goals of this Strategy will mean that all Indigenous Australians, as parents and community members, will need to continue to work with schools and build better partnerships with them. We will need to make sure that our children understand the importance of education; that it gives them a real chance in life to be their best and to care for our country and our families.

We believe this is a very important Strategy for our people. We believe that all people involved in the education of our children should work to implement it fully, in a real partnership with Indigenous Australians. The goals of this Strategy can only be achieved by teachers, school principals, businesses, parents and citizens groups and our people working together to give our children a good education; learning together in the spirit of reconciliation.

We are pleased to add our names to those that will be working across our communities to support this Strategy. We encourage all Australians to join this effort and make a difference now for the future of our children.