Buranga centre breaches education barrier
Fri 05 November 2010
Ash Roberts, Bachelor of Journalism
Statistically, the transition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to tertiary studies had been dramatically low, but Sunshine Coast educators were seeing change.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey (2008) indicated a noticeable variation in education participation and completion patterns.
In 2002, only 18 per cent of indigenous people aged 15-64 years had completed high school.
The latest results of the social survey showed that at present more than one-in-five of all indigenous people completed their high school education.
The number of non-school qualifications was also increasing, which included studies such as vocational training and studies at university.
Between 2002 and 2008, the number of indigenous people attaining extra qualifications increased from 26 to 32 per cent.
At a local level, this positive growth was evident with the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC) playing host to more than 150 indigenous students, and staff predicting close to 200 enrolled students at the start of 2011.
At the heart of this growth was the University’s Buranga centre, a cultural support hub for Australian South Sea Islander, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.
The word Barunga translated to “a place to listen and a place to learn”, and was a word given to the centre by the Gubbi Gubbi people who are the traditional custodians of the land.
The centre offered students a friendly indigenous presence on campus, academic support and cultural understanding.
It also aided the university in developing programs for indigenous students and was responsible for delivering cultural awareness programs for all university students, staff and the community.
USC’s indigenous services officer Corey Czok said the university was experiencing positive growth because of the approach he and staff took in advocating tertiary education.
“We get a lot of students here because we make contact, put a face to the name and get to know people,” Mr Czok said.
“You’re not just another number here, there’s more access to lecturing staff, there’s more access to tutors, there’s more access to support staff and we know all of our students quite well.
“Not only does that give us a big advantage as staff but it definitely makes a difference as a student.”
Mr Czok also said although growth had been positive, there was a long way to go in terms of levelling the playing field and increasing the ease of access of tertiary education for indigenous people.
“The barrier that exists for Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal students is that they think tertiary institutions are predominantly white and that there is no face, no names or indigenous support, a fear of not knowing anybody,” Mr Czok said.
“There isn’t a lot of support that comes from secondary education institutions in encouraging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to go through to tertiary level education.
“What’s been happening through the years now on a government level has been the same, nothing has really changed.
“If the government are really serious about reversing the detrimental things that impacted on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, because of their Policies and Acts that they put through the government, then it would be nice to see them really put a lot of effort into encouraging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to get tertiary qualification by providing extra means of support.”
USC’s indigenous employment coordinator Henry Neill was also one of the Buranga centre’s support staff, and had an extensive background in education, having been involved in the industry for 30 years.
Mr Neill specialised in the field of indigenous education, and believed education barriers stemmed from a lack of understanding of indigenous culture from mainstream education.
“Teachers re-teach what they were taught,” Mr Neill said.
“There was a sort of indigenous perspective to education in the past, but it was so generic it was as if all indigenous people were the same.
“There are over 300 different mobs in this country, all with different languages, all with different dialects, all with different mores and laws.
“You’ve got to give teachers new material and it’s hard to get new material.
“There is no centre for Aboriginal studies here on the Sunshine Coast where teachers can go in and source new material, the information is out there but how you get it is different.”
Mr Neill believed positive change would continue to take place as schools embraced new teaching methods and delivered a greater understanding of indigenous culture to young Australians.
“Aboriginal history is different, it’s oral history and it’s passed through songs and dance and paintings,” Mr Neill said.
“When this mentality is adopted in terms of indigenous education I think we will see more positive outcomes for indigenous students who feel valued and understood.”
Image(s) designed by Ash Roberts