NPY Women’s Council supports Anangu families who want their children to read, write and be assessed in their first language.
93% of Anangu speak their local language at home. In many cases children are coming to school with little or no English as it is often acquired as a second, third or sometimes fourth language. Despite this, governments and policy makers fail to prioritise bilingual education across the region.
"Our kids need to learn in their first language and then in English. Then they will be good in Pitjantjatjara and English. Then they can live well in both worlds."
- Nyunmiti Burton, Pitjantjatjara educator and previous NPYWC Director
Young people aged 10-25 account for over 50% of the population across the NPY Lands. However, just 18% of young people aged 17 – 24 have finished year 12 in the NPY region (ABS Census data, 2016). Evidence from both the World Bank (2021) and UNESCO (2012) supports the need for consistent bilingual education across the region.
When taught first in their own languages, children learn better, are more self-confident and transfer their literacy and numeracy skills to additional languages. Children who start formal education in a second or foreign language are much more likely to experience frustration and failure, resulting in higher dropout rates for these children.
UNESCO Why Language Matters Report, 2012
When children are first taught in a language that they speak and understand well they learn more, are better placed to learn other languages, are more likely to stay in school, and enjoy a school experience appropriate to their culture and local circumstances
World Bank, 2021
Target 5 of Closing the Gap proposes that by 2031, the Federal government will increase the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (age 20-24) attaining year 12 or equivalent qualification to 96%. In addition to this, Target 7 proposes that by the same year, the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth (15-24 years) who are in employment, education or training will increase to 67%. Although Target 16 of Closing the Gap promotes increasing the strength of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages being spoken, there is no new data to support the progress of this since the baseline year of 2018-2019 (Productivity Commission).
"Education is the key. Young people can become leaders and teach other people. Young people need to respect the culture and ensure two-way learning. We need to keep two ways culture, don’t let it go because of education, you’ve got to still have your culture."
- Daisy Tjuparntarri Ward, senior Ngaanyatjarra woman and previous NPYWC Director
Across the NT, SA and WA, this progress is below the national average and has in fact worsened. Closing the Gap targets often fail to capture the nuances of the needs of Anangu living remotely on the NPY Lands.
Supporting Anangu children in schools to learn in their first language will not only improve educational outcomes but will also strengthen cultural identity.
Research undertaken by the Global Partnership for Education (2014) found that although some First Nations children who do not have access to bilingual education do succeed in mainstream schooling, there is the risk that children fail to become linguistically competent members of their families and communities and lose the ability to connect with their cultural heritage.
"We learn through our lives and we are always learning. But when Warlpele (white fellas) came and changed things, we couldn’t teach our children in the same way. Our struggle is a struggle that First Nations people have faced around the world. How do we teach our children so they can grow up to be ‘full human beings’?"
- Dr Elizabeth Marrkilyi Ellis, senior Ngaanyatjarra woman, Educator and Linguist
A commitment from all State and Territory governments to implement bilingual education across the region would support a number of Closing the Gap targets, including Target 5, Target 7 and Target 16 (all of which are related directly to educational outcomes or First Languages).
References:
Global Partnership for Education, “Children Learn Better In Their Mother Tongue” https://www.globalpartnership.org/blog/children-learn-better-their-mother-tongue
Kral, I. and Ellis, L., (2020). In the time of their lives: Wangka kutjupa-kutuparringu: How talk has changed in the Western Desert; UWA Publishing
Productivity Commission, Closing the Gap Information Repository, Canberra https://pc.gov.au/closing-the-gap-data (accessed January 2025)
UNESCO 2012; Why Languages Matter for the Millennium Development Goals; UNESCO Bangkok Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education
World Bank (2021). LOUD AND CLEAR: Effective Language of Instruction Policies For Learning; A World Bank Policy Approach Paper