Education the key to living in two worlds

Most Jewish day schools start earlier and finish later than public schools so that children are not short-changed in their secular education due to their Hebrew and Jewish studies classes.

Noel Pearson is aware that in order for remote Indigenous students to make up the gaps in their learning, longer school hours are necessary. He has initiated a radical competency-based learning program in two Cape York communities where school starts at 7.15am and continues to 4.45pm in order to incorporate both mainstream education and Indigenous culture and language. Although it is still early days, this new instructional method has already achieved some success.

Depending on the background and location of students different strategies will need to be used. In those remote communities where children learn numerous Indigenous languages from birth, English language instruction needs to be given priority at school. In urban areas, where many Aboriginal children have no knowledge of where they come from or their traditional language, a Board of Aboriginal Education could be established to promote Aboriginal languages in public schools as the Board of Jewish Education has done with Hebrew. Although somewhat tokenistic in the time that it allows, Aboriginal spirituality could be taught in public schools in scripture classes.

Deciding which aspects of culture to retain and which aspects to discard is ultimately up to each individual, but only when people are provided with the benefits of mainstream and Indigenous cultural and language education will they be able to make an informed choice. Without this education the choice has already been made for them.