In the first semester of 2001, a total of 1,657 enrolments were recorded in these schools between school years 1 and 10, which approximates the compulsory school age range of 5-17 years. According to school records, Aboriginal students accounted for the majority of these enrolments (1,085 or 65%). In addition, a total of 28 Aboriginal youth were enrolled in Year 11 and 12 classes, along with 35 non-Aboriginal youth. For a more precise estimate of school participation among the compulsory age population, data on the ages of students were obtained. These show that a total of 832 Aboriginal students of primary age (5-12 years) were enrolled in the second semester of 2001, representing 87% of the estimated resident Aboriginal population of the Northern East Kimberley in that age group. As for secondary ages (13-17 years), a total of 220 Aboriginal students were enrolled, representing 46% of the eligible population. Overall, the Aboriginal enrolment rate among the regional population of compulsory school age was 73%. While some uncertainty surrounds this figure owing to an unknown degree of concordance between the numerator enrolment data and denominator population data, it nonetheless suggests that a substantial proportion of Aboriginal children of school age within the Northern East Kimberley do not enrol at school, especially at secondary level. These participation rates are lower than equivalent state-level figures. In 1996, the rate of Indigenous participation at primary level for the whole of Western Australia was 93%, and 62% for secondary level (Government of Western Australia 2003: 103).

Actual enrolment numbers in each school in the Northern East Kimberley are presented in Table 5.1 (enrolments in the Barramundi school in 2001 were small—10 boys and 10 girls). Clearly, with the exception of Kununurra District High School, all schools in the study region have a majority Aboriginal enrolment. Indeed, given the dynamics of the regional population over the past 20 years, it is possible to suggest a trend towards the Aboriginalisation of the region’s school population. An extreme example is provided by Wyndham High School. In 1982, this school had a total of 278 enrolments, 34% of which were Aboriginal. By 2001, total enrolments were down to 132, and 80% of these were Aboriginal.

Table 5.2 shows apparent retention rates for Aboriginal students in government schools in the Northern East Kimberley from year 8 to year 10, and from year 10 to year 12. These rates are compared with those recorded for Indigenous students generally in Western Australia, as well as with all students in the State. For each year between 1998 and 2001 the rates represent the proportion of those previously in year 8 who were retained by year 10, with the same calculation made in respect of those previously in year 10 retained by year 12. Taking the state-wide situation first, this reveals that for all students in Western Australia, retention rates from year 8 to year 10 are high and generally close to 100%. However, the retention of Indigenous students across the state to year 10 is notably lower at around 85%. In Northern East Kimberley schools, the equivalent rates vary from year to year, but are generally lower again averaging 82% in remote community schools, and 76% in the district high schools.

From a labour market perspective, retention to year 12 from year 10 is of greater significance (ABS/CAEPR 1996). For all students in Western Australia, this rate falls to a consistent level of 67%, and statewide Indigenous rates fall much further, ranging between 21% and 27%. In the Northern East Kimberley, the rate of retention of Aboriginal students to Year 12 is even lower again, averaging only 17% since 1998. As a consequence, in each of the years between 1998 and 2001 an average of only 9 Aboriginal students has been enrolled in year 12 in Northern East Kimberley government schools compared to an average of 58 in year 10.

The impact of these retention rates is reflected in census data on the highest levels of schooling completed as reported by adults (those over 15 years) in each community. These levels are shown in Table 5.3 for Aboriginal adults in each of the IAs in the study region, while equivalent figures for non-Aboriginal adults as a whole are also provided for comparative purposes. For the most part, the proportion of Aboriginal adults completing school at particular levels is broadly similar throughout the region, although Oombulgurri reports an above average proportion completing year 10, and Kalumburu an above average share of those completing only year 8 or below. At the same time, Warmun, Halls Creek, Halls Creek (n), and Wyndham-East Kimberley (w) report relatively high proportions of adults who have never been to school, no doubt reflecting the preponderance of older people in these areas whose formative years were spent on cattle properties mostly away from mission and government influence. In Warmun, for example, 22% of adult census respondents reported that they had never attended school. As for the overall situation, the main contrast within the study region between the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal population is the fact that almost 40% of Aboriginal adults left school before year 10, while the same percentage of non-Aboriginal adults completed year 12. As numerous studies based on census and survey data have shown (ABS/CAEPR 1996; Daly 1995; Gray, Hunter and Schwab 2000; Hunter 2002; Hunter and Schwab 2003), this contrast in levels of schooling completed is highly significant in terms of explaining differential rates of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal participation in mainstream employment.

For most schools in the Northern East Kimberley, the educational impact of relatively low levels of Aboriginal school enrolment is compounded by low Aboriginal school attendance, although Aboriginal attendance rates at many of the region’s schools are actually higher than the equivalent State average. Table 5.4 shows Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal attendance averages for enrolments at government schools in the study region in 2001. Aboriginal State averages for remote community schools and district high schools are also provided for comparative purposes.

With the exception of Halls Creek High School, attendance rates for Aboriginal students in the region compare favourably with the State average, especially at Oombulgurri and Dawul schools where they are on a par with the rates recorded for local non-Aboriginal students. By contrast, attendance rates at Halls Creek High School fall substantially below all other benchmarks. Comparison of Figure 5.1 for Halls Creek High School with Figures 5.2 and 5.3 for Wyndham High School and Kununurra High School respectively, shows that this relative lack of attendance occurs at all ages, but especially in the primary years 5 and 6.

All these official data and estimates regarding school access and participation are based on averages. What they do not show, and what would be more important to reveal (if it were possible), are the day-to-day levels of individual attendance at school. Given the variability in attendance and high level of population mobility, it cannot be assumed that aggregate data refer consistently to the same individuals. Since children often accompany adults in their movements across, into and out of the region it seems likely that some mobile children may be overlooked as part of the regular school population. Moreover, because attendance registers are taken each morning, no records exist regarding student participation beyond morning sessions. The prospect thus exists that the attendance rates presented here, especially those for Aboriginal students, are overly favourable. Certainly, more detailed attendance data by individual school terms available from Ngalangangpum school at Warmun point to high variability in attendance throughout the year with as few as 30% of students in attendance in some school terms, compared to 80% in others. On average, though, these data indicate attendance rates in primary years ranging between 40% and 60%, with a discernable pattern of declining attendance from the beginning of the school year to the end, although why this should be so remains unclear.