SACE board in allyship with the Aboriginal community to combine certificate success with learning about culture
As part of the South Australian Certificate of Education (SACE) board's Passport to Thrive strategy for Aboriginal students, it produced annual posters celebrating those students who completed their SACE course.
Images courtesy South Australian Certificate of Education board
The South Australian Certificate of Education (SACE) board adopted a 2020s strategy of supporting Aboriginal students to complete the qualification and develop needed skills while maintaining their cultural identity.
The SACE board was committed to fulfilling the learning entitled by Aboriginal students as a core component of its Passport to Thrive strategic vision. The boad was working in allyship with Aboriginal community members to bring Aboriginal students to the forefront of its strateg and to decide focus areas and priorities that impact successful educational outcomes.
The SACE Aboriginal Education Allyship had Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people bringing diverse cultural, community and sector expertise. They aimed to amplify the voice of Aboriginal students and provides authentic perspectives on developing innovative policy to acknowledge epistemologies of Aboriginal cultures and Aboriginal students’ unique lived experience.
The key role of the SACE Aboriginal Education Allyship was to provide constructive expert advice to the SACE chief executive and board around enhancing educational outcomes for Aboriginal young people. The allyship also could be a working group for projects. It actively supported annual priorities, including monitoring their aims, initiatives and activities, to ensure continued improvement and success of Aboriginal students in education.
The SACE Recognition of Aboriginal Cultural Knowledge and Learning programme offered Aboriginal students the chance to have their cultural knowledge and learning formally recognised within their SACE qualification. The programme – understood to be the only one of its kind in the world – empowered Aboriginal students to deepen their connection to community, lan and culture, fostering a sense of belonging within the SACE. In 2022 and 2023, the programme was piloted in 15 schools across South Australia and the Northern Territory, with 48 students receiving credits recognising their cultural learning.
To celebrate and recognise students who had finished their South Australian Certificate of Education course, the SACE board from 2021 prepared a SACE Completers poster, released to coincide with NAIDOC (National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee) Week.
