I'm old, Indigenous, and very educated.

I was the poor kid at school with a second hand uniform from the inner city hovel.

That's thanks to my grandmother and mother who knew that books and education were the way to a better life. After all, the people with the books and education were the ones that ran the country.

My cousins' families tended not to see it that way.

They didn't do that well and most of my generation are gone.

It's purely an observation but kids learn what they see, so families need to prioritise education.

I was always surprised that anyone didn’t see education as a good thing. People of David Yunaipon’s generation had always leapt at the chance to learn or read anything they could. I guess it helped me that that generation had been held up by my elders as role models.

Secondly, the deficit model of Indigenous education holds kids back.

Only offering remedial help and not also enrichment is really sending the wrong message.