The former principal of Yirrkala School in Nhulunbuy has concerns about suggestions for mission type education to be reinstated in the Northern Territory.
The Age newspaper today quotes Territory Indigenous leader Galarrwuy Yunupingu as saying remote communities need missionary-style dormitories to make sure children are fed, clothed and clean.
He told the ABC today he had reservations about the terminology of a return to mission-style education, but says students at boarding schools are properly fed and kept clean.
"People in a crowded house, the food doesn’t last that long. And kids are waking up to this kind of situation. Now, I talk about where the kids can go to a kitchen prepared for them so they can put food into their stomaches before they go to school."
But former school principal Leon White says that would take further responsibility away parents.
"Quick solutions like lets move all the kids into a dormitory are problematic and don’t really show the investment in time and in resources that’s actually need to fix up the problems that people in communities face."