Reflection on American and Aboriginal Education Participation and Employment Rates

The Department of Education wrote, “Education is an important means by which individuals can realize their full potential and make positive, informed choices about their lives. Educational experiences can affect job prospects, help the acquisition of socially valued qualities of character and behavior, and support participation in social, cultural and economic life” and I couldn't have said it any better. While I was reading about the education and employment of the aborigines I couldn't help but naturally compare and contrast situations here in America vs. the Aborigine situations. In America we start pre-k which is a classroom based early childhood education for children under the age of six, usually around 2 ½ years old, then kindergarten and so forth. I learned that Aboriginal children began early schooling around the same age as we do but participation and retention was much less than non-Aboriginal children (1).

Here in America education is compulsory over an age range from about five to eight and ending somewhere between ages sixteen and eighteen, depending on the state. These are the same education laws in Australia. Though this is true and by law students are supposed to attend primary and secondary schooling, the participation rates among Aboriginal children are much lower. I know in my life schooling was never an option it was something all my friends and I had to do, no questions asked. If fact many of us really enjoyed it and we knew because we were told from an early age that school would take us far in life. If we stayed in school and excelled we would get “real” jobs when we were older and had endless opportunities and careers to choose from. It is hard to decide what the reasons are that Aboriginal students have lower levels of educational achievement. The reasons are complex and complicated; it seems to all relate back to differences in community types, socio-economic status, cultural beliefs and values that hinder or create differences in their education (2).

  

Not to say all is perfect here but we are very fortunate in America to have great public and private schools that really direct us from an early age. We have good healthcare benefits even for the lower class people and many opportunities to learn a variety of skills. Higher education leads to greater employment so we have already created a steady cycle. It is the opposite for the Aborigines because the lower education leads to lower employment rates. In fact there are many reasons for low employment rates such as poorer health, higher levels of crime, and living areas with fewer labor market opportunities (3). It is a cycle for sure, but not a healthy one. There are many committees and programs such as Aboriginal Student Support and Parent Awareness (ASSPA), National Indigenous English Literacy and Numeracy Strategy (NIELNS), and Australian Government Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) that are working together to fund a provide the Aborigines with higher education and training. I believe these problems of lower education and employment, as well as the many other factors contributing are being noticed and that there will be great progress in the Aboriginal community in the years to come (2).

1. Johnson, Ryan. "How Aborigines Work." 2008. Electronic Document, http://people.howstuffworks.com/aborigine.htm, Accessed February 8, 2015.

3. 2005 Department of Education, Science and Training. Electronic Document, http://www.dest.gov.au/archive/schools/indigenous/aep.htm, Accessed February 22, 2015

2. Nadja, Blickle. "The present situation of Aborigines in Australia" 2000. Electronic document, http://www.grin.com/en/e-book/103958/the-present-situation-of-aborigines-in-Australia,  Accessed February 8, 2015