LISTEN

This Call for Education was drafted by young mob who gathered in Canberra, ACT in 2015 at a national workshop focused on education advocacy. This provided the mandate for the establishment of NIYEC.

We recognise the transformative effects education can have. Through education, we can grow and gain greater employment, health and overall life outcomes. Through education, we can build a prosperous and fair society. However, we also recognise that education in Australia has been used as a tool to assimilate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People, to take from them their culture, languages and family. We recognise this continues to impact our communities and influence the education institutions and systems available to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander learners today.

LISTEN, WE AS ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER YOUNG PEOPLE HAVE BEEN WITNESS TO

• The low attendance rates impacting the lives of our Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander children and youth. This is not acceptable; one child out school is simply one too many.

• Teachers who need extra support and training to understand Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and People, so that they are effective and engaging our learners.

• The closure of high schools in our communities and few further educational opportunities available for our children, youth and adults who want to learn on country and/or in community.

• The lack of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representation, history, languages and perspectives in the national school curriculum, which leaves us to question where we fit in our education and broader society.

LISTEN, WE WILL NO LONGER CONTINUE TO ACCEPT

• The lack of recognition or support of our People to make decisions on the type of education our learners receive within the current systems, or, to self-govern our own education system.

• The lack of recognition of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples with regards to our education system (More specifically, Articles 1; 14; 15; 17 and 21).

• Our educational success being based solely on achieving parity with Non-Indigenous Australians, while using instruments that do not recognise the unique experiences and starting place of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People in formal education.

LISTEN, WE WANT CHANGE

• We want Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth to be included in the decisions made about their education.

• We want an independent Indigenous education system that:

o   Incorporates Indigenous knowledge systems and ways of learning, including real-world experience

o   Prepares our learners to be competitive in the global society

o   Includes our culture, history and perspectives

• We want Indigenous views and perspectives to be included in the development of instruments and tools used to measure educational achievement and success.

• We want Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures and perspectives included in the school curriculum. And, for this to move beyond an archaeological perspective and to include our fight for human rights, self-determination and land rights.

• We want greater control over the education and knowledge we receive

• We want more Indigenous children and youth to finish school.

• We want our elders and adults, youth and children, to have access to inclusive and equitable education and lifelong learning opportunities.

• We do not expect the road ahead to be easy, but we are committed to working with you. We are committed to mobilising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth to advocate for their rights and education. We commit to being informed, to continue our learning journeys, to conduct our own research, to be vigilant and critical of our education system. We will work to achieve an education system that is inclusive and equitable, that will encourage our children, youth and adults to learn throughout their entire life.

WE ARE CALLING ON YOU TO STAND WITH US IN FIGHTING FOR AN EDUCATION DRIVEN BY OUR PEOPLE FOR OUR PEOPLE.