Newsletter date: 24 February 2014
Contents:
* Emma Murphy & Peter Robson, Green Left: NT gov't to further cut bilingual education
* Jarvis Ryan: Bilingual education needs to be extended, not scrapped
* Alice Springs News: Indigenous education review: no more ‘biliteracy’; boarding for secondary students
* Background to the use of Aboriginal languages in NT schools (bilingual education)
* Padraic Gibson, The Guardian: Tony Abbott's cuts directly hurt Aboriginal children
* Clare Fester, Solidarity Online: Aboriginal grandmothers fight to stop new Stolen Generation
* Gerry Georgatos, The Stringer: Stolen Generations continues but worse than ever
* Background to 'Keeping Them Home': Campaign against Forced Aboriginal Adoption in the NT
* EMMA MURPHY & PETER ROBSON, GREEN LEFT: NT GOV'T TO FURTHER CUT BILINGUAL EDUCATION
- Analysis / Opinion
Green Left: NT gov't to further cut bilingual education
https://www.greenleft.org.au/node/55871
14 Feb 14: "If the report’s recommendations are indicative of government intent, education for remote Aboriginal children in the NT looks set to suffer more blows. ... Disappointingly, however, the February 7 draft report recommends a shift further away from the successful bilingual systems of the past. The executive summary says: "The review does not support the continued efforts to use biliteracy approaches, or to teach the content of the curriculum through first languages other than English." ... The review comes in the context of mounting attacks on the public education sector." By GLW authors Emma Murphy & Peter Robson, Darwin
* JARVIS RYAN: BILINGUAL EDUCATION NEEDS TO BE EXTENDED, NOT SCRAPPED
- Analysis / Opinion
Jarvis Ryan: Bilingual education needs to be extended, not scrapped
http://jarvisryan.wordpress.com/2014/02/20/bilingual-education-needs-to-...
20 Feb 14: "The release of the draft report of the NT government’s review of Indigenous education has generated a lot of alarm in remote Indigenous communities. Yet again Aboriginal people have been singled out for treatment that no one would even contemplate proposing for other social groups - specifically, closing remote education centres and forcing all secondary age children to go away to boarding school, which a former student of mine said reminded her of the sort of thing that went on with the Stolen Generations. ... "
About me - Jarvis Ryan
http://jarvisryan.wordpress.com/about/
"I taught in western Sydney for five years before moving to a remote Aboriginal community in the Northern Territory in 2012."
* ALICE SPRINGS NEWS: INDIGENOUS EDUCATION REVIEW: NO MORE 'BILITERACY'; BOARDING FOR SECONDARY STUDENTS
- News
Alice Springs News: Indigenous education review: no more ‘biliteracy’; boarding for secondary students
http://www.alicespringsnews.com.au/2014/02/07/indigenous-education-revie...
7 Feb 14: "The draft review of Indigenous education in the Territory by consultant Bruce Wilson, released today, does not support "continued efforts to use biliteracy approaches"; says secondary education for bush students should be delivered in the Territory’s major towns with appropriate residential support; and on the fraught issue of attendance, says effort should be preferentially targeted to early childhood and primary children and to secondary children already attending on average at least three days per week. On biliteracy Mr Wilson says ... "
* BACKGROUND TO THE USE OF ABORIGINAL LANGUAGES IN NT SCHOOLS (BILINGUAL EDUCATION):
Last updated: 23 February 2014
http://indymedia.org.au/2012/05/05/background-to-the-use-of-aboriginal-l...
* PADRAIC GIBSON, THE GUARDIAN: TONY ABBOTT'S CUTS DIRECTLY HURT ABORIGINAL CHILDREN
- Analysis / Opinion
The Guardian: Tony Abbott's cuts directly hurt Aboriginal children
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/feb/20/tony-abbotts-cuts-d...
20 Feb 14: "Indigenous specialist services have been slashed by a tidal wave of cuts. This has a direct impact on the health and safety of thousands of Aboriginal children ... Tony Abbott has told Australians to prepare for pain in the upcoming May budget, with wide ranging cuts to social services anticipated. The mid year fiscal report released last December removed any doubt that Abbott will target the most vulnerable, and some of the cuts which have been already announced will hurt Aboriginal communities very badly - and particularly Aboriginal children." Padraic Gibson
Padraic Gibson - The Guardian
http://www.theguardian.com/profile/padraic-gibson
"Padraic Gibson is a senior researcher with the Jumbunna Indigenous House of Learning, University of Technology Sydney. He has lived in Alice Springs and traveled extensively in Central Australia researching the impact of the NT Intervention. He is also an organiser with the Stop the Intervention Collective Sydney and co-editor of Solidarity magazine."
* CLARE FESTER, SOLIDARITY ONLINE: ABORIGINAL GRANDMOTHERS FIGHT TO STOP NEW STOLEN GENERATION
- Analysis / Opinion
Solidarity Online: Aboriginal grandmothers fight to stop new Stolen Generation
http://www.solidarity.net.au/aboriginal/aboriginal-grandmothers-fight-to...
19 Feb 14: "On the sixth anniversary of Kevin Rudd’s apology, a rally outside the NSW parliament demanded an end to what activists are calling a new Stolen Generation—removals by child protection departments. The rally was initiated by a group from Gunnedah, the Grandmothers Against Removals, and heard eyewitness accounts from families who have had children removed by the NSW Department of Community Services (DOCS). Opening the rally, Greens MP David Shoebridge said that since the Bringing Them Home report on the Stolen Generations was released in 1997, there has been a five-fold increase in Aboriginal child removal. One in ten children in NSW are currently living in care." By Clare Fester
* GERRY GEORGATOS, THE STRINGER: STOLEN GENERATIONS CONTINUES BUT WORSE THAN EVER
- Analysis / Opinion
The Stringer: Stolen Generations continues but worse than ever
http://thestringer.com.au/stolen-generations-continues-but-worse-than-ever/
15 Feb 14: "Grandmothers Against Removals was formed by NSW regional Gunnedah grandmothers who have been broken by the record number of removals by our State Governments – yes by Governments - of their grandchildren from their Mothers. According to grandmother Hazel Collins, the Stolen Generations continues and in numbers never-before-known. Ms Collins travelled from regional Gunnedah, with affected families from across the State and from interstate to NSW Parliament to raise awareness of the record number of children being removed, and the cycle of devastation this is causing to the communities of First Nations peoples." By Gerry Georgatos, a life-long human rights and social justice campaigner, a multi-award winning investigative journalist
* BACKGROUND TO 'KEEPING THEM HOME': CAMPAIGN AGAINST FORCED ABORIGINAL ADOPTION IN THE NT
Last updated: 14 February 2014
http://indymedia.org.au/2013/07/03/background-to-keeping-them-home-campa...
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