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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2016-11-30 Daily Xml
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Wiltja Year 12 Students

Ms WORTLEY (Torrens) (15:24): Each year, thousands of secondary students in South Australia graduate with their South Australian Certificate of Education. For each one of these students, it is an achievement but for some the hurdles are greater, sometimes measuring thousands of kilometres. This has been the experience of the seven 2016 graduates, and those who have come before them, of Wiltja Secondary College, an Indigenous boarding school in my electorate of Torrens that offers an alternative to the education commonplace in outback Australia. The graduates all hail from remote rural communities in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) lands, Maralinga, Tjatja and Central Australia. In the words of Wiltja's boarding director Anthony Bennett:

They have left their families and their country behind them to pursue an education which they believe will set them up for a strong future. For many of them, they have learned in a language other than the ones they speak at home. For some, they are amongst the first in their families to graduate with a high school certificate.

As such, their certificate is extra special. For the students living in these communities the prospect of conventional schooling can be daunting. The education program at Wiltja uniquely enables students from remote APY and other isolated communities in South Australia, the Northern Territory and Western Australia to engage in mainstream urban schooling within a supportive environment. Students at Wiltja are able to undertake their SACE whilst participating in vocational education and training, and an array of out-of-school hours learning.

Wiltja has been an integral part of the Anangu Lands Partnership schools and, though supported and resourced by the South Australian Department for Education and Child Development, it is directly governed by the Anangu communities themselves. Wiltja is the mainstream school of the Anangu Lands Partnership schools and is under the educational direction of the Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Education Committee.

Wiltja comprises Wiltja Secondary College and Wiltja Boarding, a school and residence program. Both cater to the educational, social and emotional needs of each student within a culturally respectful context. The program is a multicampus initiative that integrates schooling with Windsor Gardens Secondary College, in the seat of Torrens, and Woodville High School, with plans to introduce the programs to other schools.

The program's inception has been entirely driven by Anangu, who were of the view that their children's future interests and those of their communities could be best served by the educational opportunities offered in a mainstream environment. Objectively, the program at Wiltja seeks to empower children and young people through education so that they become self determining in order to manage their communities, determine their own futures, and actively participate in the wider world. They expressly want their children to be able to walk in two worlds.

Accordingly, students undertaking secondary education at Wiltja do so solely on the basis that they and their family wish for them to participate in the program. The Anangu community actively supports Wiltja to ensure the continuance of their communities and culture. As such, within the program Anangu culture and languages are maintained and enshrined, with some aspects of contemporary Western culture incorporated. However, the program is not without its challenges.

The remoteness and isolation of Anangu communities has restricted the students' exposure to many experiences which mainstream society takes for granted. This presents many challenges for transitioning, and it is a testament to the Wiltja students' tenacity to see their schooling through. Wiltja's residency program seeks to address and provide intensive support to students transitioning into life within an urban environment and ensure students develop to their full academic and social potential. In this regard, Wiltja's successes are irrefutable.

In 1998, Wiltja produced the first ever SACE graduates from traditional Anangu communities. Since then, each year more graduates have their names inscribed on the eminent graduation plaque in the boarding house foyer, as more boys and girls join the legacy of the 74 other Wiltja students to graduate with their SACE. I recently had the honour of presenting awards at the Wiltja year 12 graduation at the John DiFede Reception Centre, and I place on record my congratulations to the following 2016 graduates: Myles Turner, Con Ken, Swayne Day, Suzhanna Bostock-Stuart, Partimah Fielding, Mitchell Forrester and Cyril Kunoth-Hampton.

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