Coby Smith, Tyron Ross-Garden and Kobi Baxter will undertake a Certificate II in Conservation and Ecosystems Management over the next 12 months to build their skills and understanding on how to responsibly ‘‘care for and work on country’’.
The program formed as a collaboration between Deniliquin High School, Yarkuwa Indigenous Knowledge Centre, NSW National Parks and Wildlife Services, Murray Local Land Services and TAFE NSW.
It was sparked by a conversation between DHS careers adviser Pam Sinha and concerned mother Di Vella, late last year.
She was concerned her son, program participant Kobi, would not finish high school without improved engagement in the learning process.
At the time of the conversation, NPWS was leading several field activities in the Millewa area of the Murray Valley Regional Park, which interested Indigenous students were invited to come along to.
Ms Sinha said the young men who attended these events were thoroughly taken by the experiences.
‘‘They loved working on country,’’ said Ms Sinha.
‘‘These opportunities were ideal for everyone involved in the project to get together and brainstorm how we could work to develop a program to support these boys’ aspirations.
‘‘And that’s where things really started to gain momentum.’’
Murray LLS and NPWS committed to a partnership with Yarkuwa and released senior field officer Luke Egan — himself a Yorta Yorta Wamba Wamba man — to work at Yarkuwa and establish the traineeship program over the next 12 months.
Yarkuwa co-founder David Crew said ‘‘this program is a perfect example of what can happen when agencies work together to improve outcomes and opportunities for young people, in particular Indigenous young men’’.
‘‘We don’t need to quote statistics, we know for a fact, the attrition rate of young Indigenous males from formal education and training is too high,’’ he said.
‘‘Deniliquin High School, in partnership with Yarkuwa, has made significant progress in embedding Aboriginal language, culture and history in the curriculum of the school.
‘‘Programs such as this will assist in ‘closing the gap’ for our Indigenous students.’’
Ms Sinha said the historic and inaugural signing of these three young men is just the beginning of how DHS is supporting the development of our next generation of Indigenous leaders in our local community.
‘‘I would like to acknowledge all the hard work, problem solving, creative thinking and enthusiasm from the partners.
‘‘Without their commitment, we wouldn’t be creating pathways for Indigenous youth, and these three traineeships would not have become a reality.’’
