A/HRC/15/37/Add.4 C. Education 35. As part of its commitment to closing the gap on indigenous disadvantage, COAG has established the following benchmarks in the area of education: within five years, provide all indigenous 4 year olds in remote indigenous communities with access to a good quality early childhood education; within a decade, halve the gap in reading, writing, and numeracy achievements among indigenous children; and by 2020 at least halve the gap for indigenous retention through grade 12. 36. In addition, the Special Rapporteur recognizes Government efforts to include a cross-cultural perspective in the national curriculum. Nevertheless, sources consulted by the Special Rapporteur identified problems with the curriculum currently used and the day-today operations of schools across Australia that are attended by indigenous children, as well as a lack of adequately trained teachers for bilingual and culturally appropriate education and a lack of resources to sustain such programmes. There are very few examples of Aboriginal children being taught in their own languages. Of particular concern is the information the Special Rapporteur received from numerous sources that, as of January 2009, the Northern Territory government requires that school activities be conducted in English for the first four hours of each school day. The Special Rapporteur is aware of the value of and need to improve literacy in the national language, but emphasizes that the Northern Territory government must make greater effort to respect cultural diversity and find a better approach to addressing the challenges of bilingual education. 37. The remote character of many indigenous communities is another major challenge for the provision of education, which is well-documented and analysed in the 2008 Social Justice Report.14 Providing schooling to children in remote areas by placing them in boarding schools away from their communities raises further complex considerations. The inadequacy of current educational opportunities has resulted in indigenous children in remote areas exhibiting low rates of attendance, achievement, and retention.15 Recognizing the complexities in delivering services, including education services, to remote areas, the Special Rapporteur urges the Government to give adequate focus and priority to this issue, as discussed in more detail in part VI (B). D. Employment and income 38. COAG has identified the target of halving the gap in employment outcomes between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians within a decade. In furtherance of this goal, the National Partnership on Indigenous Economic Participation seeks to improve opportunities for indigenous people to engage in private and public sector jobs through a number of programmes. 39. The Special Rapporteur commends this initiative. However, he is concerned that recent welfare reform efforts have had the effect of abruptly cutting off income and jobs upon which indigenous individuals have relied, leaving them with no adequate alternatives for income generation. For example, as a result of welfare reform initiatives, the Yarrabah community in Queensland reported losing AUD 7 million in assistance previously received under the Community Development Employment Projects programme, although according to the Government, this funding merely shifted to other employment service and job 14 15 GE.10-13887 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner (Sydney, Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, 2009), report No. 1/2009, chap. 3. Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage, chap. 6. 11