1301.0 - Year Book Australia, 2002  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 25/01/2002   
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Contents >> Education and Training >> Indigenous education and training

Indigenous school students

In 2000 there were 76,688 Indigenous students reported as attending primary school and 34,839 Indigenous students attending secondary school.

Most Indigenous students (88%) attended government schools in 2000. Of the remainder attending non-government schools, most were attending Catholic schools (67%) (table 10.22). The increase in ungraded students between primary and secondary education is mostly attributable to the classification of secondary-age students in Northern Territory remote Aboriginal schools as ungraded. This is due to the difficulty of classifying such students in terms of the normal urban secondary grade structure.


10.22 INDIGENOUS SCHOOL STUDENTS(a), By Category of School and Level/Year of Education - 2000

Government schools
Non-government schools

Level


no.
Anglican

no.
Catholic

no.
Other

no.
Total

no.
All schools

no.

Primary
Pre-year1(b)
5,963
7
471
129
607
6,570
Year 1
9,986
9
866
272
1,147
11,133
Year 2
9,845
12
872
270
1,154
10,999
Year 3
9,763
14
823
257
1,094
10,857
Year 4
9,368
13
789
236
1,038
10,406
Year 5
9,075
5
857
270
1,132
10,207
Year 6
8,572
8
733
242
983
9,555
Year 7 (Qld, SA, WA, NT)
4,980
8
444
181
633
5,613
Ungraded
1,051
0
11
286
297
1,348
Total Primary
68,603
76
5,866
2,143
8,085
76,688
Secondary
Year 7 (NSW, Vic., Tas., ACT)
3,054
4
269
82
355
3,409
Year 8
6,860
52
819
399
1,270
8,130
Year 9
6,332
63
718
339
1,120
7,452
Year 10
5,428
57
608
326
991
6,419
Year 11
3,188
49
469
226
744
3,932
Year 12
2,056
33
324
129
486
2,542
Ungraded
2,190
134
229
402
765
2,955
Total Secondary
29,108
392
3,436
1,903
5,731
34,839
Total
97,711
468
9,302
4,046
13,816
111,527

(a) Full-time students only.
(b) Pre-year 1 does not include Queensland and Western Australia.

Source: Schools, Australia (4221.0).


Graph 10.23 shows a decline in government school attendance from Year 1 onwards in 2000. The number of Indigenous students attending non-government schools remained relatively stable across the early grades, followed by a slight increase in Year 8 students, then a decline until Year 12.




Table 10.24 shows an increase in the number of Indigenous students between 1990 and 2000 from 64,735 to 111,527. Over this period, the number of Indigenous people attending each level of school increased in every State and Territory. New South Wales and Queensland experienced the largest increases in Indigenous school attendance, 15,790 and 13,372 respectively.

In both 1990 and 2000 there were more Indigenous males in primary education than females. In secondary education, the reverse was the case.


10.24 INDIGENOUS SCHOOL STUDENTS(a), By Level of Education - 1990 and 2000

Level
NSW

no.
Vic.

no.
QLD(b)

no.
SA

no.
WA(b)

no.
Tas.

no.
NT

no.
ACT(c)

no.
Aust.

no.

Primary
Males
- 1990
5,403
836
5,773
1,477
4,228
458
3,984
151
22,310
- 2000
10,887
1,984
10,903
2,422
6,348
1,390
5,098
282
39,314
Females
- 1990
4,905
805
5,377
1,411
4,101
474
4,026
119
21,218
- 2000
10,348
1,965
10,327
2,367
5,861
1,356
4,882
268
37,374
Total Primary
- 1990
10,308
1,641
11,150
2,888
8,329
932
8,010
270
43,528
- 2000
21,235
3,949
21,230
4,789
12,209
2,746
9,980
550
76,688
Secondary
Males
- 1990
3,089
537
3,080
531
1,792
319
1,103
50
10,501
- 2000
5,502
938
4,744
849
2,462
892
1,769
153
17,309
Females
- 1990
3,167
581
3,125
645
1,690
349
1,096
53
10,706
- 2000
5,617
1,002
4,753
866
2,556
892
1,668
181
17,530
Total Secondary
- 1990
6,256
1,118
6,205
1,176
3,482
668
2,199
103
21,207
- 2000
11,119
1,940
9,497
1,715
5,018
1,779
3,437
334
34,839
Total
All Indigenous students
- 1990
16,564
2,759
17,355
4,064
11,811
1,600
10,209
373
64,735
- 2000
32,354
5,889
30,727
6,504
17,227
4,525
13,417
884
111,527

(a) Full-time students only.
(b) Pre-year 1 does not include Queensland and Western Australia.
(c) Includes one government primary school in Jervis Bay Territory with 38 students (14 males, 24 females).

Source: Schools, Australia (4221.0).


Indigenous Vocational Education and Training clients

In 2000, 53% of Indigenous VET clients were male. In all geographic regions, the number of male Indigenous clients outnumbered their female counterparts (table 10.25). Indigenous VET clients were not as strongly affiliated with urban locations when compared to all VET students. Some 27% of Indigenous clients were located in capital cities compared with 56% of all clients, and a further 27% of Indigenous clients were located in remote areas compared with 4% of all clients.


10.25 INDIGENOUS VET(a) CLIENTS(b), Vocational and Preparatory Courses(c) by Geographic Region of Client Address - 2000

Capital city
Other metropolitan
Rural
Remote
Other
Total

NUMBER ’000

Indigenous clients
Males
7.4
1.7
10.2
7.4
0.4
27.2
Females
6.5
1.6
9.6
6.6
0.2
24.4
Persons
13.9
3.2
19.8
14.0
0.6
51.7

PER CENT

All Indigenous clients
26.9
6.3
38.4
27.2
1.2
100.0
All clients
56.3
7.3
29.9
3.6
3.0
100.0

(a) Includes all VET delivery by TAFE and other government providers, registered community providers, some VET delivered in schools, and publicly-funded delivery by private providers. Fee for service VET delivery by private providers has been excluded.
(b) A client is any individual participating in a specific enrolment or training contract with a specific organisation.
(c) Courses leading to a vocational award.

Source: National Centre for Vocational Education Research, ‘Australian Vocational Education and Training Statistics 2000: In Detail’.


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 70,400 Indigenous course enrolments in 2000 compared with 51,700 Indigenous clients.

There was an overall increase of 121% in Indigenous VET enrolments since 1994 (table 10.26). While the greatest increase in enrolments over the period 1994 to 2000 was for Art, humanities and social sciences (5,500 enrolments), the most rapid growth over that period was for Education, where enrolments increased by more than 1000%.

In 2000 there were more Indigenous enrolments (29%) in multi-field VET courses (including school courses offered in VET institutions) than in other courses. Business administration and economics was the second most popular field of study, accounting for 12% of Indigenous enrolments.


10.26 INDIGENOUS VET(a) COURSE ENROLMENTS, Vocational and Preparatory Courses(b) - 1994 and 2000

Field of study
1994

’000
2000

’000

Land and marine resources, animal husbandry
1.6
5.6
Architecture, building
1.1
2.9
Art, humanities and social sciences
2.5
8.0
Business, administration, economics
4.4
8.6
Education
0.3
3.4
Engineering, surveying
2.2
5.4
Health, community services
2.0
7.2
Law, legal studies
0.1
0.5
Science
0.8
2.2
Veterinary science, animal care
-
-
Services, hospitality, transportation
2.1
6.3
VET multi-field education
15.0
20.1
Total enrolments
32.2
70.4

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

Source: National Centre for Vocational Education Research, ‘Australian Vocational Education and Training Statistics 2000: In Detail’.


Indigenous higher education students

In 2000, some 7,350 Indigenous students were attending higher education. Females comprised 65% of Indigenous higher education students, compared to 55% of the total higher education student population.

Table 10.27 shows the distribution of Indigenous higher education students across States and Territories in 2000. New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia had the largest number of Indigenous students, with the Australian Capital Territory and Tasmania having the lowest.

The proportion of Indigenous students who were females was highest in the Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia (71%, 68% and 66% females respectively). The Australian Capital Territory had the least differential between the number of male and female Indigenous students attending higher education institutions (52% were female).


10.27 INDIGENOUS HIGHER EDUCATION STUDENTS, By State - 2000

Commencing Indigenous students


All Indigenous students


State/Territory
Males

no.
Females

no.
Persons

no.
Males

no.
Females

no.
Persons

no.

NSW
347
518
865
748
1,247
1,995
Vic.
127
196
323
268
426
694
Qld
256
393
649
541
884
1,425
WA
287
509
796
499
975
1,474
SA
75
143
218
162
345
507
Tas.
36
47
83
81
132
213
NT
115
292
407
184
458
642
ACT
28
38
66
78
85
163
Multi-State(a)
25
78
103
49
188
237
Total
1,296
2,214
3,510
2,610
4,740
7,350

(a) Multi-State institution(s) have campuses in more than one State and/or Territory.

Source: Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs, ‘Students 2000: Selected Higher Education Statistics’.


Graph 10.28 illustrates the increasing trend in Indigenous participation in higher education over the past decade. Between 1990 and 2000 the number of Indigenous students increased from 3,609 to 7,350 (104%). The greatest annual increase of Indigenous students was between 1990 and 1991 (33%).



Table 10.29 shows that in 2000, Indigenous students were more likely to choose social or community-oriented courses, such as Arts or Education. Arts, humanities and social sciences had the highest percentage of Indigenous student enrolments (38%), followed by Education (28%).


10.29 INDIGENOUS HIGHER EDUCATION STUDENTS, By Broad Field of Study and Level of Course - 2000

Field of study
Postgraduate
degree

no.
Postgraduate
diploma and
equivalent

no.
Bachelor
degree

no.
Diploma and
advanced
diploma

no.
Other
education

no.
Total

no.

Agriculture, animal husbandry
2
-
53
61
6
122
Architecture, building
3
12
41
-
-
56
Arts, humanities and social sciences
161
35
1,696
483
419
2,794
Business, administration, economics
62
27
512
60
2
663
Education
84
61
922
321
636
2,024
Engineering, surveying
6
3
91
2
-
102
Health
62
76
594
237
3
972
Law, legal studies
20
10
385
55
-
470
Science
33
18
357
6
32
446
Veterinary science
-
-
17
-
-
17
Non-award
-
-
-
-
-
12
Total(a)
433
242
4,343
1,225
1,095
7,350

(a) The data take into account the coding of combined courses to two fields of study. As a consequence, counting both fields of study for combined courses means that the data in the total row may be less than the sum of the data aggregated down each column.

Source: Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs, ‘Students 2000: Selected Higher Education Statistics’.



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