QUEENSLAND’S Catholic schools sector is encouraging more Indigenous Australians to pursue a teaching career through a new video campaign.
The Queensland Catholic Education Commission and the QCEC Indigenous Education Subcommittee have launched a video campaign titled “Teaching is a Deadly Career” and highlights the attractions of the profession to upper secondary school students.
The video has been developed as part of the More Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Teacher Initiative (MATSITI) project, a National Catholic Education Commission project, facilitated by Catholic Education South Australia through funding from the Commonwealth Government.
Yve Rutch, QCEC Executive Officer, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education, said teaching is a great career option that is not always considered by Indigenous people, and particularly school leavers.
“In addition to being great teachers, more Indigenous teachers in our schools can also assist by being role models and bringing deep cultural understandings to the fabric of school communities,” Ms Rutch said.
The video, along with other materials, would be provided to all Catholic school authorities for distribution to principals and careers counsellors, Ms Rutch said.
The number of Indigenous students in Catholic schools in Queensland has almost doubled in the past ten years from 3212 in 2006 to 5,908, or about 4% of all students, in 2015.
The video can be viewed on the QCEC website.
