Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education
Encyclopedia
Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education (generally known as Batchelor Institute and formerly known as Batchelor College) provides training and further education
(formerly known as TAFE), and higher education
for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It is based in Batchelor
, Northern Territory
in Australia
. Its current Chancellor is Rosalie Kunoth-Monks
(a former film actor as Ngarla Kunoth).
Batchelor Institute is classified as a 'Table A' tertiary education
provider. Like an increasing number of universities, Batchelor Institute is a dual-sector institution, providing Higher Education and Vocational Education and Training courses. The Institute is the first Indigenous-controlled higher education institution in Australia. It is also unusual in that most of its students are over 30 years of age, and a high proportion of its students are female.
, a residential school for Aboriginal students on the outskirts of Darwin, Northern Territory
. Short training programs were provided for Aboriginal teacher aides and assistants in community schools.
In 1974, the college moved to Batchelor (100 kilometres south of Darwin). It has been at its present site since 1982.
A second campus of the college was established in Alice Springs in 1990 to address the educational needs of Aboriginal people from Central Australia
. Other annexes were opened in Darwin, Nhulunbuy, Katherine and Tennant Creek.
The Commonwealth Government
recognised Batchelor College as an accredited independent higher education institution through the Higher Education Funding Act 1988. This meant that BIITE could issue its own degrees and other tertiary qualifications without outside involvement, in the same way as universities, and also be funded like them.
The college was granted autonomy as a public sector agency in 1995. It became independent under Northern Territory legislation on 1 July 1999.
Vocational education
Vocational education or vocational education and training is an education that prepares trainees for jobs that are based on manual or practical activities, traditionally non-academic, and totally related to a specific trade, occupation, or vocation...
(formerly known as TAFE), and higher education
Higher education
Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...
for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It is based in Batchelor
Batchelor, Northern Territory
Batchelor is a town in the Northern Territory of Australia. The town is located in the Coomalie Shire Local Government Area, 98 kilometres south of the territory capital, Darwin...
, Northern Territory
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...
in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Its current Chancellor is Rosalie Kunoth-Monks
Rosalie Kunoth-Monks
Rosalie Kunoth-Monks, also known as Ngarla Kunoth , is an Australian Aboriginal activist.-Early life and education:Rosalie Kunoth was born in 1937 at Utopia Cattle Station in the Northern Territory of Australia to parents of the Amatjere people...
(a former film actor as Ngarla Kunoth).
Batchelor Institute is classified as a 'Table A' tertiary education
Tertiary education
Tertiary education, also referred to as third stage, third level, and post-secondary education, is the educational level following the completion of a school providing a secondary education, such as a high school, secondary school, university-preparatory school...
provider. Like an increasing number of universities, Batchelor Institute is a dual-sector institution, providing Higher Education and Vocational Education and Training courses. The Institute is the first Indigenous-controlled higher education institution in Australia. It is also unusual in that most of its students are over 30 years of age, and a high proportion of its students are female.
History
Batchelor Institute began in the mid-1960s as an annex of Kormilda CollegeKormilda College
Kormilda College is an Anglican and Uniting Church day and residential secondary college located at Berrimah in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.-History:...
, a residential school for Aboriginal students on the outskirts of Darwin, Northern Territory
Darwin, Northern Territory
Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. Situated on the Timor Sea, Darwin has a population of 127,500, making it by far the largest and most populated city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory, but the least populous of all Australia's capital cities...
. Short training programs were provided for Aboriginal teacher aides and assistants in community schools.
In 1974, the college moved to Batchelor (100 kilometres south of Darwin). It has been at its present site since 1982.
A second campus of the college was established in Alice Springs in 1990 to address the educational needs of Aboriginal people from Central Australia
Central Australia
Central Australia/Alice Springs Region is one of the five regions in the Northern Territory. The term Central Australia is used to describe an area centred on Alice Springs in Australia. It is sometimes referred to as Centralia; likewise the people of the area are sometimes called Centralians...
. Other annexes were opened in Darwin, Nhulunbuy, Katherine and Tennant Creek.
The Commonwealth Government
Government of Australia
The Commonwealth of Australia is a federal constitutional monarchy under a parliamentary democracy. The Commonwealth of Australia was formed in 1901 as a result of an agreement among six self-governing British colonies, which became the six states...
recognised Batchelor College as an accredited independent higher education institution through the Higher Education Funding Act 1988. This meant that BIITE could issue its own degrees and other tertiary qualifications without outside involvement, in the same way as universities, and also be funded like them.
The college was granted autonomy as a public sector agency in 1995. It became independent under Northern Territory legislation on 1 July 1999.
Campus/Annex locations
- Alice Springs, Northern TerritoryAlice Springs, Northern TerritoryAlice Springs is the second largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Popularly known as "the Alice" or simply "Alice", Alice Springs is situated in the geographic centre of Australia near the southern border of the Northern Territory...
- Batchelor, Northern TerritoryBatchelor, Northern TerritoryBatchelor is a town in the Northern Territory of Australia. The town is located in the Coomalie Shire Local Government Area, 98 kilometres south of the territory capital, Darwin...
- Darwin, Northern TerritoryDarwin, Northern TerritoryDarwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. Situated on the Timor Sea, Darwin has a population of 127,500, making it by far the largest and most populated city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory, but the least populous of all Australia's capital cities...
- Barkly Tennant Creek, Northern TerritoryTennant Creek, Northern TerritoryTennant Creek is a town located in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is the fifth largest town in the Northern Territory and it is located on the Stuart Highway, just south of the intersection with the western terminus of the Barkly Highway....
- East Arnhem Nhulunbuy, Northern TerritoryNhulunbuy, Northern TerritoryNhulunbuy is the name of the township created on the Gove Peninsula in the Northern Territory of Australia when a bauxite mine and deep water port were established nearby in the late 1960s...
- Katherine, Northern TerritoryKatherine, Northern TerritoryKatherine is a town situated southeast of Darwin in the "Top End" of Australia in the Northern Territory. It is the fourth largest settlement in the Territory after the capital Darwin, Palmerston and Alice Springs...
Study Centre locations
- Angurugu Groote EylandtGroote EylandtGroote Eylandt is the largest island in the Gulf of Carpentaria in northeastern Australia. It is the homeland of, and is owned by, the Anindilyakwa people who speak the isolated Anindilyakwa language)....
, Northern Territory - Borroloola, Northern TerritoryBorroloola, Northern TerritoryBorroloola is a town in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is located on the McArthur River, about 50 km upstream from the Gulf of Carpentaria. At the 2006 census, Borroloola had a population of 773, of whom 579 declared themselves indigenous....
- Gunbalanya Oenpelli, Northern TerritoryOenpelli, Northern TerritoryOenpelli is an Aboriginal community in west Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia.-Access:The sealed Arnhem Highway links Darwin to Jabiru, the town within Kakadu National Park...
- Lajamanu, Northern TerritoryLajamanu, Northern TerritoryLajamanu is a small town of the Northern Territory in Australia. It has a population of 669 , of which a significant amount are of Aboriginal origin...
- aningrida, Northern Territory]
- Murrupurtiyanuwu, Northern Territory
- Ngukurr, Northern Territory
- Nyirrpi, Northern Territory
- Utopia, Northern TerritoryUtopia, Northern TerritoryUtopia is an Aboriginal homeland formed in November 1978 by the amalgamation of the former Utopia pastoral lease with a tract of unalienated land to its north. It covers an area of 3500 square kilometres, transected by the Sandover River, and lies on a traditional boundary of the Alyawarra and...
- Wadeye Port Keats, Northern Territory
- Yirrkala, Northern TerritoryYirrkala, Northern TerritoryYirrkala is a well-known indigenous community in Arnhem Land, in the Northern Territory of Australia, at , 18 km South-East from the large mining town of Nhulunbuy...
- Yuendumu, Northern Territory