Whistleblower loses job
Natasha Robinson; 19/4/08
Throughout the dusty reaches of the Northern Territory, the crisis in remote education is usually well-hidden. But in Ali Curung, on the edges of the vast Tanami desert, the indigenous community is not prepared to watch yet another teacher walk away. Almost 100 people in the small community, also known as Alekarenge and 170km south of Tennant Creek, have signed a petition in support of teacher Robert Bartholomew, who has blown the whistle on the Northern Territory’s crumbling education system, which he says is dooming the future of Aboriginal Australia. Dr Bartholomew, an American sociology professor who has lived in Australia for 13 years, has been working as a teacher in remote schools for several years. He told The Weekend Australian that walking into the Alekarenge School was like entering the Third World. Conditions were so bad that only one of six teachers who started at the school at the beginning of this year made it through to the second term.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23563374-5013404,00.html
Tags: Aboriginal, Australia, Education