PACIFIC ISLANDER YOUTH EDUCATIONAL SUPPORT PROGRAM
Reverend the Hon. Dr GORDON MOYES: The New South Wales Minister for Community Services, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Disability Services, and Minister for Youth was the guest speaker at the launch of the new educational support program for Pacific Island young people and their families at Bankstown on Thursday 20 May. This program will be run with Wesley Mission Sydney and is funded by the Department of Community Services. The launch of this new service, the Pacific Education Resource X-Change—known as PERX—was held at Bankstown Uniting Centre. Research on school retention, performance and participation for Pacific Island students in the Canterbury-Bankstown area indicates there is cause for concern. This group of students is highly represented in the bottom one-quarter of student scores in the School Certificate and basic skills tests, as well as being overrepresented in suspensions and expulsions.
Recognising this research as a call to action, Wesley Mission is partnering the Pacific Island Women’s Advisory and Support Service and the Pacific Island Council to launch the program and address those issues that Pacific Island communities have identified as important to their young people and families. The combined initiative of Wesley Mission and the Pacific Island communities will assist students at school and help with family problems when they impact on the school attendance and performance of students. PERX aims to assist students directly as well as to improve the understanding of families of the New South Wales education system and what is required of students to engage with it successfully.
The Pacific Education Resource X-Change recognises the strengths of Pacific Island communities, including commitment to family life and work, care for others, community activities and a strong spiritual life that emphasises the possibility of change and growth in the lives of individuals. It is our aim to harness these strengths in order to work together to address issues that Pacific Island communities have identified among children, young people and their families in Canterbury-Bankstown. Key outcomes for the service include supporting children and young people from Pacific Island background from year 5 to year 9 from schools in the Canterbury-Bankstown local government area. Further, additional programs to target the needs of children in younger years will be established, together with additional programs to target the needs of underachieving children and young people.
The Premier’s Department and the Department of Community Services provide funding on a two-yearly basis. Wesley Mission has provided $80,000 worth of computers, tables, photocopiers, and so on. PERX will offer families a range of ways to help their children be successful at school because if children are successful at school they will be better equipped for life. This project is a four-way partnership between Wesley Mission, the Pacific Island Council, the Pacific Island Women’s Advisory and Support Service and the Government. Wesley Mission includes a number of Pacific Island congregations, and its welfare programs have qualified and experienced Pacific Island staff. We are sensitive to religious and faith issues in the community. There are approximately 5,000 Pacific Island students in the Canterbury-Bankstown area.
Cultural practices, such as expecting older children to care for younger children rather than using community child care, and keeping children at home to share in various festivals and major family events, impact negatively on the children’s school performance. The design of this project is to assist the children directly, with the help of other Pacific Island adults who have succeeded, and to improve families’ understanding of the New South Wales education system and what is needed for children to successfully engage with it. We also aim to build a better understanding in the school community of Pacific Island cultures and the home lives of students. This is a program between government and private enterprise, with volunteers coming from the corporate sector, welfare agencies and the Pacific Island community itself. I commend the program. 29 June 2004.
