It is a sad fact that our history of education in the Northern Territory is pretty “muted”. A lot has gone on over time but remembrances are diminishing as people leave, move on or become deceased. When Gary Barnes took on the CEOs role in 2009 he rued the fact that there was no history of education in the Northern Territory to which he could refer and be informed as the incoming CEO. This situation has not changed.

With that in mind, I have wondered whether or not it would be possible for a thread on “history”, with sub titles to differentiate the different aspects of Territory education that have happened in the past in the NT, to be built into the department’s website.

Under the subtitles (aboriginal education, bilingual education, and so on),an annual chronology could be established so the comments on specific subjects relating to the year of happening could be included.

There are other ways in which this reference could be extended. One might be bylines relating to theses and dissertations, that relate to educational history and developments in the Northern Territory completed over time At the moment any documentation of this nature would be housed with Charles Darwin University or possibly in the Northern Territory archives. Cross referencing in a “trove” manner to these sources could be useful.

I have raised this issue within the Education Department, so far with no positive response. Unless and until our educational history is visible and available, discounted policies will be revisited and past mistakes re-made.