In December 2009, Ministers for Education, Early Childhood Development and Youth Affairs called for submissions on a draft national Indigenous education action plan, designed to improve educational outcomes for Indigenous students.
The 2009 Chair of MCEECDYA, the Hon Jane Lomax-Smith, Minister for Education in South Australia, said “Ministers see this consultation process as an important part of their continued commitment to consult with Indigenous Australians, educators and other stakeholders on policy developments that will help governments improve Indigenous student outcomes.”
The draft plan outlines activities that will be undertaken at the national, state and local level to close the gap between the educational outcomes of Indigenous and non-Indigenous students.
It focuses on action across six areas that evidence shows will have the most impact on closing the gap:
Readiness for school
Engagement and connections
Attendance
Literacy and numeracy
Leadership, quality teaching and workforce development
Pathways to real post-school options.
The draft plan has been developed with significant input from education systems and some prominent Indigenous educators.
An initial draft of the Plan was circulated to Indigenous education consultative bodies and a number of leading Indigenous educators for preliminary comment prior to public release. The purpose of this draft is to seek comment from a wider range of stakeholders to inform the development of the final version.
Ministers see this consultation process as essential to meeting their commitment to real partnerships with Indigenous Australians, and engagement with educators and other stakeholders in the development of policy that will assist governments to close the gap in Indigenous student outcomes.
The public consultation process on the draft Indigenous Education Action Plan closed on 28 February 2010. Responses received have been analysed for the final version. Responses not marked as confidential have been published on the MCEECDYA website and are available here.
The draft Indigenous Education Action Plan can be downloaded here.
