[ti:Australia Links Aboriginal Aid to School Attendance] [ar:Catherine Cole] [al:Education Report] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]From VOA's Learning English, this is the Education Report. [00:06.60]Parents in South Australia's Aboriginal lands [00:11.83]may lose some of their financial aid [00:15.31]if they do not send their children to school. [00:19.12]New rules link school attendance with payments [00:24.17]for parents living in poverty. [00:26.62]Warren Mundine is Prime Minister Tony Abbott's top advisor [00:32.85]on issues concerning Aboriginals, native Australians. [00:38.24]He disagrees with connecting school attendance and aid. [00:44.07]Instead, he urges the government to find ways [00:48.81]to improve attendance without punishing parents. [00:52.20]"Now, I know governments find that punitive measures [00:56.29]need to happen but I think they're really a last resort." [00:59.23]Mr. Mundine says the situation can change [01:04.66]if tribal leaders support education. [01:08.00]"We need to work with parents [01:10.74]and we need to work with communities [01:12.17]because we are making a massive cultural change here." [01:15.24]But other officials say they believe the threat of stopping aid [01:21.12]will force families to take education more seriously. [01:25.57]In South Australia state, [01:28.58]only fifty percent of children stay in school [01:32.71]after the age of fifteen. [01:34.77]In some areas, [01:37.32]as much as ninety percent of Aboriginal children [01:41.32]struggle to read and write. [01:43.51]The state government says it has special programs [01:47.31]for Aboriginal children. [01:49.09]It says students work with their parents and teachers [01:53.13]to develop a personal learning plan. [01:56.02]The plan is re-examined each year. [01:59.62]Local officials also say [02:02.07]the public schools provide special workers -- [02:05.51]called mentors -- [02:07.31]who work individually with Aboriginal students [02:11.36]who need extra help. [02:13.00]At year seven, Aboriginal students can join a program [02:18.19]called Enter for Success. [02:20.93]It helps students deal with the change to high school. [02:25.17]The program is designed to improve student attendance at school. [02:30.42]The students can choose which high school to attend. [02:35.36]School officials say students receive support [02:39.35]in reaching the goals on their individual learning plans. [02:43.24]The state of Western Australia also has special programs [02:48.91]for Aboriginal and other ethnic groups. [02:51.75]The state operates a program called Focus Schools. [02:55.99]The program centers on basic skills like reading, [03:01.08]writing and numbers skills. [03:02.78]Sixty-seven of these public Focus Schools serve students [03:08.26]in 79 very rural areas. [03:11.34]Most are primary schools. [03:14.53]Some students on the secondary level study [03:18.12]with Internet teaching programs. [03:21.40]The state's minister for education and child development [03:26.20]said the Focus Schools program also includes 118 coaches [03:32.88]working with students in 134 schools. [03:36.48]About 670,000 indigenous peoples live in Australia. [03:42.90]And that's the VOA Learning English Education Report. [03:47.59]I'm Catherine Cole.