Indigenous-Education-Review_DRAFT

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Review of Indigenous Education in the Northern Territory Bruce Wilson model. The intention was to ensure that funding agreements between the Australian Government and state and territory jurisdictions would be clearly focused on agreed outcomes and provide greater flexibility at the jurisdictional level regarding the allocation of funding. The current Australian Government‐Northern Territory Government funding agreements show little evidence of this ambition. They reflect a multiplicity of funding sources, fragmentation and lack of effective alignment across different sources. There are inconsistencies between Territory and Australian Government approaches to funding and reliance on short‐term funding to address long‐term problems. In some cases there have been unanticipated changes in direction as governments, ministers or senior executives change. Agreements focus on inputs as much as outcomes, and are accompanied by onerous reporting requirements and tight prescription within agreements that make it more difficult to shift direction in response to changing circumstances. The Australian Government has been frustrated with the lack of progress in the Territory on key measures. There has been concern about cost‐shifting and substitution. The Northern Territory Government has indicated its wish to establish a new funding relationship with the new Australian Government. The Department of Education is looking to establish a long term funding commitment based on an agreed strategic plan with clear outcomes. The intention requires a plan that ensures the strategic allocation and use of resources and reduces the administrative burden of a large number of small, seemingly unconnected funding arrangements. A related point is made by the Coordinator General for Remote Indigenous Services in his 2013 report on progress with Local Implementation Plans: It is recommended that work commence on developing better incentives for whole‐ofgovernment collaboration and driving funding reforms for remote Indigenous service providers to better align and streamline funding agreements and, where possible, extend funding periods (Gleeson, 2013: 46) The review agrees that a new approach is essential, and especially for Indigenous education. This report argues for the development of a strategic plan for Indigenous education based on the recommendations in this review report (see Recommendation 2). The plan should have a very long term focus: at least a decade, with clear and explicit interim targets. Such a plan should be endorsed by both the Australian Government and the Northern Territory Government. At both levels of government, it would ideally reflect a bipartisan agreement, as a means of assisting coherence and consistency over time in funding and its effects on implementation. Funding arrangements between the two governments regarding Indigenous education should be focused on achievement of the goals and targets in the strategic plan. This should be reflected in a single, comprehensive, integrated agreement, supported by long term commitments, as flexible in funding allocation as is consistent with effective accountability and enabling renegotiation of current funding agreements (including the SFNT) where this would assist better alignment and more effective targeting of resources. The agreement should set challenging but realistic interim targets for achievement, recognise the time it will take to achieve substantial improvement in core indicators and provide a degree of certainty among the recipients of funding, especially schools, as to their capacity to undertake long‐term planning based on an assured resource base. The agreement should also allow mutually agreed modification of goals, targets and funding priorities in response to evidence over time. One clear outcome of this review has been the lack of high quality evidence about what works in Indigenous education. The funding agreement should commit both governments to high‐quality longitudinal research on the effectiveness of key initiatives in such areas as school readiness, early literacy and numeracy achievement, alternative arrangements for the provision of secondary education, distance education as a means of provision in remote locations, attendance, school governance, community engagement as a contributor to student learning and the training, and recruitment and quality of remote teachers and principals. Governments should use data emerging DRAFT 119
Review of Indigenous Education in the Northern Territory Bruce Wilson from the research to sharpen the focus of reform and redirect energy to those initiatives demonstrated to be the most effective. Recommendations 36. Allocate long‐term funding in accordance with the strategic plan recommended by this review and maintain a consistent direction across the life of the plan. 37. Seek a single, integrated agreement with the Australian Government on funding for Indigenous education (and more broadly) committing both governments to: a. long‐term goals and targets based on the strategic plan for Indigenous education recommended by this review; b. reasonable certainty in funding over an extended period allowing long‐term planning; c. flexibility in funding allocations by the Territory combined with effective accountability; and d. longitudinal evaluation of all key initiatives enabling progressive modification of the plan in response to evidence. DRAFT 120
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