The Northern Territory Government has made it mandatory for public school students to sing the Australian national anthem at assemblies and special events.
Under the policy introduced today, all 152 public schools in the territory will be instructed to play and sing both verses of the national anthem in English during all-school assemblies and special events.
Students are also asked to stand during the Advanced Australia Fair.
Education Minister Joe Hershey said in a statement that children in the territory were being “deprived of what makes them proud to be Australian” and the new policy would restore national pride.
“We are Australians. In the Northern Territory, students are taught what it means to be Australian and what it means to be proud of your country.”
she said.
Students in all 152 public schools in the territory will be required to stand and sing the Australian national anthem. (ABC News: Michael Franchi)
The policy also includes updating the school curriculum to help students learn about national symbols and what they mean to Australian identity through the civics and citizenship learning area.
Singing and playing the national anthem can also be taught as part of an art class.
Ms. Hershey said the national anthem will be mandatory, but playing “Welcome to Country” will be at the discretion of each school.
According to the Northern Territory Council of Public School Organizations (NTCOGSO) website, approximately 43 per cent of public school students in the Northern Territory are Indigenous.
This mandate applies to all public schools in the territory. (Facebook: Northern Territory Department of Education)
Federal politicians support policy
Federal Education Minister Jason Clare said the national anthem was “already a frequent occurrence” in schools across Australia.
“I never knew the second verse until Paulie, but when you go into schools around the country kids sing verses one and two,” he told Channel 7’s Sunrise program.
“There’s a great lyric in number two, ‘Let’s all be brave and go to the Advanced Australia Fair’…If kids are singing that in the Northern Territory and other parts of the country, I think that’s a good thing.”
Jason Clare said many schools across Australia were already singing the national anthem at assemblies and special events. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)
Northern Territory senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price supported her Territorial Government colleagues’ new policy, saying it was “about building a common national identity”.
“This is a smart and respectful step that strengthens our pride in who we are and ensures that our children grow up knowing what it truly means to be Australian.”
she said.
Arnhem Land MLA says policy is ‘playing politics’
Arnhem Land independent politician Izija Guyura, whose constituency is A long-standing bilingual indigenous schoolsaid he believed the new policy was “going too far.”
”[Schools] If you want to sing, you can sing, but you don’t have to sing and you can sing in Yorš Mata,” he said.
“This raises further questions regarding control of the Yorju nation and the Yorju universe.
“They need to stop telling us what they think is best for us and listen to what we have to say.
”We should focus on delivering better outcomes for our children and stop politics.”
Yiŋiya Guyula discusses whether schools in the Northern Territory should sing the national anthem and which language they should choose. (ABC News: Dane Hurst)
“Many schools in the Territory are already doing this,” Shadow Northern Territory Attorney-General Chansey Pecci said in social media comments.
“This is just a smokescreen to distract.” [the government’s] It was a failure,” he wrote.
Earlier this month, the Northern Territory Government released statistics showing year-on-year declines in all enrollment rates and enrollments in the jurisdiction.
The policy comes in time for the start of the new academic year, when Northern Territory public school students begin classes on Thursday.