The Aboriginal Literacy Foundation offers a range of books aimed at improving the standard of literacy among Indigenous students.

Click here to download an order form.

 

 

Our Programs

 

What We Do

 

The Aboriginal Literacy Foundation provides weekly one-on-one literacy tutoring to Indigenous children struggling to make literacy gains at school. We provide Indigenous Literacy and Heritage Camps to fast track literacy and numeracy learning’s for significantly disadvantaged students. These programs are provided by a dedicated team of volunteers and paid tutors.

 

The Foundation also supplies books and literacy backpacks to children in remote communities to encourage them in their educational journey. We fund education scholarships for Indigenous young people to give them the best possible start and greater educational opportunities.

 

We conduct literacy testing for Indigenous children to enable early intervention and tailored support. Through many of the Foundation’s campaigns we create community awareness with the aim of closing the poverty gap.

 

Why We Do It

By almost all socioeconomic indicators, Australia’s Indigenous young people are the most disadvantaged group in the nation.

The educational outcomes of Indigenous children are closely related to their opportunities for further education and employment. A lack of education can lead to a life of poverty, hopelessness, crime and despair.

For instance, completing year 10 or 11 increases an Indigenous person’s prospect of employment by 40%. Early intervention and support in literacy and numeracy skills is vital to keep Indigenous children engaged in education. Sadly, 87% of Indigenous children in regional and remote areas struggle to read and write and fall well below the national literacy benchmarks.

“There is an enormous gap in the English literacy rates of Indigenous and non- Indigenous people in Australia. The gap is even wider for Indigenous people living in remote and isolated communities.”

The Aboriginal Literacy Foundation works to minimise the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. This gap emerges early, “Non- Indigenous students far out-perform Indigenous students in benchmark tests for reading, writing and numeracy in Year 3 and Year 5. By year 7, the gap has widened, particularly for numeracy.”

Research also shows that Indigenous homes have fewer books and educational resources. These factors are clearly linked to children’s achievements at school and in the development of English literacy skills.

The primary beneficiaries of the Aboriginal Literacy Foundation’s programs are Indigenous children aged between 8 and 16 years.  They are identified by their school or community as some of the most disadvantaged Indigenous students experiencing major learning difficulties. Common characteristics of these communities include: low levels of education, high unemployment, low income, high dependence on government support, poor health and nutrition.  The youth are disengaged in education with schools in the region experiencing low attendance rates, children are less likely to remain in education beyond year 8, literacy and numeracy levels are low.

Clearly the priority of the Aboriginal Literacy Foundation is to provide ongoing literacy programs and opportunities for Indigenous young people through education and community based initiatives such as the Books for Learning Program, Literacy & Heritage Camps, Literacy Resource Packs and Support Services, Literacy Testing, Research and Evaluation

 

Source: Salvation Army
Source: The Fred Hollows Foundation;
http://www.hollows.org.au/Assets/Files/Indigenous_Literacy.pdf