Review of the Indigenous Education Direct Assistance (IEDA) Program: final report 2004

This report is the product of the phase two review of the Indigenous Education Direct Assistance (IEDA) Program, conducted by DEST between September 2002 and December 2003. The review focused on examining the effectiveness and appropriateness of the current IEDA suite of programs against the long term goals of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Policy. Three main program areas were investigated: the Aboriginal Tutorial Assistance Scheme (ATAS), the Aboriginal Student Support and Parent Awareness Program (ASSPA), and the Vocational and Educational Guidance for Aboriginals Scheme (VEGAS).

• ATAS provides supplementary tutoring for Indigenous students, and funding to 693 homework centres where students can complete homework and access computers for study. The review found that tutoring of primary school students achieves improved results in literacy and numeracy. Homework centres are extremely helpful in remote locations where no other suitable facility (eg. a library) is available, and where the student’s home environment is not conducive to study and homework activities.

• ASSPA Committees were developed to involve Indigenous people in educational decision-making. The review found that the ASSPA program appears to have facilitated a significant increase in Indigenous involvement and participation in schools, but the level of progress and attainment nationally is patchy and uneven. The success of ASSPA within a particular school community is heavily reliant upon the attitudes, skills and motivation of the Indigenous parents, the school principal and the level of structural support provided by the relevant educational authority.

• VEGAS provides funding for projects to improve Indigenous people’s access to information about further education, training and career options. It aims to help to improve transitions from one level of education and training to another. VEGAS also funds projects aimed at assisting Indigenous prisoners and juvenile detainees to participate in pre- and post-release education, training and employment programs. Absentee rates have dropped for Indigenous students in many schools involved with VEGAS, along with rates of students involved in the Juvenile Justice System. However, VEGAS would appear to be the least successful of the three programs reviewed.

In summary, findings indicate that IEDA programs are more successful when conducted in communities with relatively large Indigenous populations, and when they are coordinated with other relevant programs and projects in the local area. The report recommends that IEDA’s interventions should emphasise overcoming local barriers to improving educational outcomes and the development of solutions which are tailored to local circumstances.

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