1301.0 - Year Book Australia, 2004

ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 27/02/2004

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Indigenous education and training

Education is generally considered to be a key factor in improving outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, with many studies having shown that improved health and socioeconomic status are directly linked to educational participation and achievement. A range of issues, however, affect participation in education for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, including: access to educational institutions, financial constraints, and community expectations. While targeted programs aim to improve outcomes in some educational areas, Indigenous students continue to engage in education and training at lower rates of participation and achieve lower levels of educational attainment than for all Australian students.

This article examines the participation of Indigenous students in each of the education sectors: schooling, vocational education and training, and higher education.

Indigenous school students

In 2002 there were 82,467 full-time plus full-time equivalent (FTE) of part-time Indigenous students attending primary schools and a further 39,618 Indigenous students (FTE) attending secondary schools.

Most Indigenous students (88%) attended government schools in 2002. Of the remainder attending non-government schools, most were attending Catholic schools (66%) (table S10.1). The increase in ungraded students between primary and secondary education is mostly attributable to the ungraded classification of secondary-age students attending Northern Territory remote Homeland Learning Centres. This is due to the difficulty of classifying such students in terms of the standard secondary grade structure.

S10.1 INDIGENOUS SCHOOL STUDENTS (FTE)(a) - August 2002
			Non-government schools

Level/year of education		Government schools	Catholic	Other	Total	All schools

Primary
	Pre-year 1(b)	6,815	595	220	815	7,630
	Year 1	10,553	889	260	1,149	11,702
	Year 2	10,380	927	297	1,224	11,604
	Year 3	10,061	849	282	1,131	11,192
	Year 4	10,004	887	290	1,177	11,181
	Year 5	9,837	842	289	1,131	10,968
	Year 6	9,417	753	298	1,051	10,468
	Year 7 (Qld, SA, WA, NT)	5,556	493	240	733	6,289
	Ungraded	1,123	89	221	310	1,433
	Total	73,746	6,324	2,397	8,721	82,467
Secondary
	Year 7 (NSW, Vic., Tas., ACT)	3,522	314	76	390	3,912
	Year 8	8,148	802	591	1,393	9,541
	Year 9	7,284	746	487	1,233	8,516
	Year 10	5,832	777	428	1,205	7,037
	Year 11	3,841	534	349	883	4,725
	Year 12	2,426	418	182	600	3,025
	Ungraded	2,040	198	624	822	2,862
	Total	33,092	3,789	2,737	6,526	39,618
Total		106,839	10,113	5,134	15,246	122,085

(a) Full-time students plus full-time equivalent of part-time students.
(b) Pre-year 1 does not include Qld.

Source: ABS data available on request, National Schools Statistics Collection, 2002.

Graph S10.2 shows that, for government schools, numbers of Indigenous school students (FTE) decline with each successive year level post Pre-year 1. While there is a gradual decline from Year 1 to Year 7, it is accelerated in secondary schooling as Indigenous students complete compulsory schooling, and particularly from Year 10 to Year 11. At non-government schools, school student numbers (FTE) remain steady from Year 1 to Year 7, then increase to a higher level for Years 8 to 10 as some students of government schools move to non-government schools.

Graph - S10.2 Indigenous school students (FTE), By level/year of education - August 2002

Table S10.3 shows a 20% increase in Indigenous students attending school between 1998 and 2002. Over this period, attendance at school increased from 102,488 to 122,085 students (FTE). While New South Wales and Queensland experienced the largest increases in Indigenous school attendance (by 7,072 and 5,607 students (FTE) respectively), growth was proportionally greatest for the Australian Capital Territory (27%) and Victoria (26%).

Increased attendance by Indigenous students was evident at both primary and secondary levels. This was the case in every state and territory, except the Northern Territory, where attendance at primary schools fell by less than 1%. Growth in Indigenous students over the period was greater at the secondary level (24%) than at the primary level (17%).

S10.3 INDIGENOUS SCHOOL STUDENTS (FTE)(a), By level of education - August
		NSW	Vic.	Qld	SA	WA	Tas.	NT	ACT(b)	Aust.

Primary
	1998	19,185	3,412	19,242	4,511	11,697	2,422	9,629	475	70,572
	2002	23,283	4,270	22,845	5,123	13,828	2,862	9,609	648	82,467
Secondary
	1998	9,941	1,750	8,712	1,543	4,470	1,709	3,440	350	31,915
	2002	12,915	2,223	10,716	1,982	5,659	2,013	3,708	402	39,618
Total
	1998	29,126	5,162	27,954	6,054	16,167	4,131	13,068	825	102,488
	2002	36,198	6,493	33,561	7,105	19,487	4,875	13,317	1,049	122,085

(a) Full-time students plus full-time equivalent of part-time students. (b) Includes one government primary school in Jervis Bay Territory.

Source: ABS data available on request, National Schools Statistics Collection, 2002.

Apparent retention in school

The growth in retention of Indigenous students in senior secondary schooling has been notable over the five-year period ending 2002. The apparent retention rate for Indigenous students from Year 7/8 to Year 12 rose 5.9 percentage points from 1998 to 2002 compared to a rise of 3.6 percentage points for non-Indigenous students over the same period. Nonetheless, the rate of retention of Indigenous students in secondary schools remains substantially below that for non-Indigenous students. The apparent retention rate for Indigenous students commencing in Year 7/8 and continuing to Year 12 was 38%, compared to 76% for non-Indigenous students (table S10.4).

S10.4 APPARENT RETENTION RATES(a), Indigenous and non-Indigenous students
		1998	1999	2000	2001	2002
		%	%	%	%	%

Year 9
	Indigenous	95.0	93.9	95.7	96.5	97.8
	Non-Indigenous	99.7	99.9	99.8	100.0	99.8
Year 10
	Indigenous	83.1	82.0	83.0	85.8	86.4
	Non-Indigenous	97.5	97.9	98.0	98.2	98.5
Year 11
	Indigenous	52.5	56.0	53.6	56.1	58.9
	Non-Indigenous	85.4	86.4	86.2	87.6	88.7
Year 12
	Indigenous	32.1	34.7	36.4	35.7	38.0
	Non-Indigenous	72.7	73.2	73.3	74.5	76.3

(a) Full-time students only. From the commencement of secondary school, which is Year 7 in NSW, Vic.,Tas., and the ACT and Year 8 in Qld, SA, WA and the NT.

Source: ABS 2002.

Indigenous VET students

In 2002, 53% of Indigenous vocational education and training (VET) clients were male. In all geographic regions, the number of male Indigenous clients outnumbered their female counterparts (table S10.5). Some 26% of Indigenous clients were located in capital cities compared with 57% of all clients, and a further 28% of Indigenous clients were located in remote areas compared with 3% of all clients.

S10.5 INDIGENOUS VET(a) CLIENTS(b), By geographic region of client address - 2002
		Units	Capital city	Other urban	Rural	Remote	All regions(c)(d)

Indigenous clients
	Males	'000	8.3	1.8	12.4	9.2	32.7
	Females	'000	7.6	1.7	11.0	8.0	28.9
	Persons	'000	15.9	3.6	23.4	17.3	61.7
All Indigenous clients		%	25.8	5.8	37.9	28.0	100.0
All clients		%	56.6	6.7	30.3	3.4	100.0

(a) Includes all vocational and preparatory courses delivered by TAFE and other government providers, registered community providers, and publicly funded delivery by private providers that lead to a vocational award. Excludes enrolments in fee-for-service VET courses of private providers, and schools data submitted by states and territories. (b) A client is any individual participating in a specific enrolment or training contract with a specific organisation. (c) Includes Indigenous students whose sex is unknown. (d) Includes 'Indigenous status not stated' and students studying outside Australia.

Source: National Centre for Vocational Education Research, National Vocational Education Collection, data available on request.

Since clients may be enrolled in more than one VET course, the number of course enrolments is greater than the total number of clients. There were 79,600 Indigenous course enrolments in 2002 compared with 62,000 Indigenous clients.

In 2002 there were more Indigenous enrolments (25%) in multi-field VET courses (including school courses offered in VET institutions) than in other courses (table S10.6). Management and commerce (15%) and Society and culture (14%) were the next most popular fields of education. By way of contrast, the most popular fields of education for non-Indigenous VET students, were in Management and commerce (22%), Engineering and related studies (15%) and Society and culture (12%).

S10.6 INDIGENOUS VET COURSE ENROLMENTS(a), By field of education - 2002
	Number
	’000

Natural and physical sciences	0.1
Information technology	1.8
Engineering and related technologies	8.5
Architecture and building	3.6
Agriculture, environmental and related studies	6.6
Health	5.0
Education	2.4
Management and commerce	12.2
Society and culture	11.0
Creative arts	4.3
Food, hospitality and personal services	4.2
Multi-field VET	20.0
Total	79.6

(a) Includes all vocational and preparatory courses delivered by TAFE and other government providers, registered community providers, and publicly funded delivery by private providers that lead to a vocational award. Enrolments in fee-for-service VET courses of private providers have been excluded.

Source: National Centre for Vocational Education Research, National Vocational Education Collection, data available on request.

The number of Indigenous apprentices and trainees has increased by 75%, from 4,000 in 1998 to 7,000 in 2002. Over the same period, the growth in non-Indigenous apprentices and trainees was 104%. Indigenous apprentices and trainees represented 1.9% of all apprentices and trainees in 2002, compared to 1.8% in 1998.

Indigenous higher education students

In 2002, 8,871 Indigenous students were enrolled in higher education, an increase of 2.4% on enrolments in 2001. Table S10.7 shows the distribution of Indigenous higher education student enrolments across the states and territories. In 2002, 4,246 Indigenous students commenced higher education study, an increase of 2.8% on the level of commencing students in 2001.

Overall, females (63%) represented the greater proportion of Indigenous higher education students in 2002. The equivalent proportion among all higher education students was 54%. The proportion of female Indigenous students was higher in the Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia (68%, 65% and 64% respectively).

S10.7 INDIGENOUS HIGHER EDUCATION STUDENTS(a) - 2002
		Commencing students			All students

	Units	Males	Females	Persons	Males	Females	Persons

New South Wales	no.	435	556	991	948	1,390	2,338
Victoria	no.	137	214	351	346	524	870
Queensland	no.	310	514	824	677	1,146	1,823
South Australia	no.	84	145	229	185	349	534
Western Australia	no.	318	498	816	556	984	1,540
Tasmania	no.	46	58	104	98	149	247
Northern Territory	no.	216	512	728	333	719	1,052
Australian Capital Territory	no.	39	52	91	86	109	195
Multi-state(b)	no.	30	82	112	63	209	272
Total	no.	1,615	2,631	4,246	3,292	5,579	8,871
Change from 2001	%	7.8	0.0	2.8	5.1	0.9	2.4

(a) Students enrolled at anytime within the 12-month period 1 September to 31 August. (b) Multi-state institutions have campuses in more than one state and/or territory.

Source: DEST 2002.

Graph S10.8 illustrates the growth in Indigenous participation in higher education over the past decade. Between 1992 and 2002 the number of Indigenous students in higher education increased by 58% from 5,105 to 8,871.

Graph - S10.8 Indigenous higher education students

Table S10.9 shows that in 2002 the fields of study with the largest numbers of Indigenous student enrolments were Society and culture (35%), Education (20%) and Health (13%). Some 70% of Indigenous students in higher education at 2002 were enrolled in courses leading to a Bachelor degree or higher level of qualification. This compares to 95% of all higher education students.

S10.9 INDIGENOUS HIGHER EDUCATION STUDENTS, By field of education and level of course - 2002
Field of education	Postgraduate degree	Graduate diploma/ Graduate certificate	Bachelor degree	Advanced diploma/ Diploma	Other education	Enabling courses	Total(a)

Natural and physical sciences	18	6	223	1	2	7	257
Information technology	13	12	150	2	-	-	177
Engineering and related technologies	10	6	102	2	8	1	129
Architecture and building	5	-	45	-	-	-	50
Agriculture, environment and related studies	10	23	118	21	9	42	223
Health	67	89	739	238	9	13	1,155
Education	111	76	1,158	361	10	64	1,780
Management and commerce	106	68	601	7	4	-	786
Society and culture	257	86	1 981	496	19	294	3,133
Creative arts	41	25	370	95	3	149	683
Mixed field programmes	-	-	-	-	-	728	728
Total(a)(b)	638	391	5,209	1,223	64	1,298	8,871

(a) Includes a small number of non-award courses. (b) The data take into account the coding of combined courses to two fields of education. As a consequence, the data in the total row may be less than the sum of the data aggregated down each field of education.

Source: DEST 2002.

References

ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) 2002, Schools, Australia, 2002, cat. no. 4221.0, ABS, Canberra.

DEST (Department of Education, Science and Training), 2002, Students 2002: Selected Higher Education Statistics, DEST, Canberra.