The Wire

This week Federal Education Minister Brendan Nelson announced he’ll be getting tough on schools failing to deliver educational outcomes for Indigenous students. Within its 2 point 1 billion dollar package, state governments will be held responsible for ensuring money allocated to schools will be put to good use. The announcement comes as statistics show only 13 per cent of indigenous students can pass national benchmark tests in reading, writing, and numeracy, with only one in four passing grade 3 reading tests, and one in three passing year 5. We spoke to Chair of Brisbane’s independent Murri School, Tiga Bayles.