Mabo/...Some dedicated school teachers..., 1973-1985

...Some dedicated school teachers...

'The community school was right in the heart of an urban area, where there were schools all around it. And therefore it was in a way an affront and a challenge to the existing school system. It was saying very clearly "We don't think you're doing well enough. We want our own school", and that was how it was taken as an insult to the white education system, which of course had been failing and accepting the fact that Islanders and Aborigines could only achieve a very limited degree of education. It wouldn't have probably started had they not run into some dedicated school teachers who were so caught up by the idea, that they were willing to provide their services for whatever was going as far as salaries were concerned. Often it was half pay.'

Keywords: Black Community School, education, Loos, Noel, Townsville, 1973-1985