ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY

The Australian Government acknowledges the Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia and acknowledges their continuing connection to land, waters and community. We pay our respects to the people, the cultures and the Elders past and present.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this website may contain images, voices and names of deceased persons.

Indigenous.gov.au Connecting With First Nations Australians
Back to Stories

Arrikininga the word for increasing school attendance

15 May 2015
Children and Schooling

The Arrikininga Shirts of the Tiwi Islands are working hard to ensure local children have the best chance of succeeding in life.

When it comes to increasing school attendance in the Tiwi Islands, “Arrikininga” is the word on everyone’s lips.

Xavier College in Wurrumiyanga in the Tiwi Islands, north of Darwin, experienced years of poor school attendance, leading to its inclusion in the Australian Government’s Remote School Attendance Strategy (RSAS). Arrikininga, which means “Yellow” in the Tiwi language, refers to the colour of the shirts worn by RSAS staff, who are working closely with the college and students to increase school attendance.   

One of the Arrikininga Shirts is Robert Joran, a Tiwi man born and raised in Milikapiti on the Tiwi’s Melville Island. After attending boarding school in Darwin and a decade-long stint in the Northern Territory police force, Robert returned home to the Tiwis to raise his family, and help out in his community.  

Robert now works as the School Attendance Supervisor (SAS) at Xavier College and says that the Arrikininga Shirts have contributed to school attendance and student morale. 

“The situation has improved a lot since we started at the school last year,” Robert said. 

“One of the Arrikininga ideas is to present awards on assembly days to students with excellent attendance. Kids with one hundred per cent attendance over the last week receive a yellow certificate while those with eighty per cent receive a green encouragement award. There are a lot of kids in the community with walls full of certificates and they have a competition to see who gets the most certificates,” Robert said.

Robert has also seen the benefit of getting parents involved in their children’s attendance.

“Every morning at 7.00am I ring the bell in each street to remind kids to get up and get ready for school. Then when I come back a little while later it’s good to see all the parents out the front of their houses with the children, waiting for the bus,” Robert said. 

“A lot of parents are breeding good habits in their children by ensuring they go to school every day. Sadly, some parents don’t care whether their children go to school or not but kids need the best chance of succeeding in life and you do that by encouraging kids to go to school, and giving them the opportunity to go on to university or other studies.

“A lot of parents here realise this and that’s why I think we have a really good future here on the Tiwis,” Robert said.

Find out more

A good education is essential for a good future. Getting children to school, improving education outcomes and supporting families to give their children the best start in life is a major priority for the Australian Government.

 The Remote School Attendance Strategy is about working together with schools, families and community organisations to ensure all children go to school every day.