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Learning on Country Program (LoCP) progress evaluation report

  • Description
    The Learning on Country Program (LoCP) was established in July 2013 and was run in four sites in Arnhem Land: Maningrida, Yirrkala, Laynhapuy Homelands (Yirrkala), and Galiwin’ku (Elcho Island). The LoCP objectives were to:
    • increase school attendance, course completion and retention to Year 12 or equivalent of Indigenous students enrolled in LoCP-based curricula.
    • increase transition rates to further education, training and employment for Indigenous students completing LoCP-based curricula.
    • increase inter-generational transmission of Indigenous knowledge and customary practice among Indigenous students enrolled in LoCP-based curricula.
    • develop a strong partnership between Ranger groups, schools and local community to deliver a culturally responsive, secondary school curriculum that integrates Indigenous knowledge and western knowledge systems, with particular reference to natural resource and cultural management.

    Evidence for the evaluation was garnered through three main methods which comprise a formative evaluation:
    • collaborative and ethnographic fieldwork at LoCP sites.
    • an experimental web portal — the Learning on Country Program Portal — which provided a warehouse of key documents and activities.
    • collection and analysis of a wide range of system-level data types from the Northern Territory Government and from local schools.
  • Regions in scope
    4 remote communities in Arnhem land
  • Funding entity
    Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs
  • Research/evaluation entity
    The National Centre for Indigenous Studies (NCIS)
    The Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research (CAEPR)
    The Australian National University
  • Status
    Completed
  • End date
    2015
  • Released to public
    Yes
  • Other information
  • Categories
    Social and emotional wellbeing