Abstract
The study was premised on the concern of the migrant African parents about their children’s lack of aspiration for higher education after completing their secondary education in the Northern Territory (NT), Australia. There appears to be little understanding of, or confusion around, the different pathways available to higher education in Australia. The reports and anecdotes around African youths in the NT demonstrating antisocial behaviors, including, but not limited to drug offences, teen pregnancies and suicides prompted this research. These troubling behaviors have culminated in the death of two young boys in the African community in Darwin 2016 and another girl in 2019 in Kathrine. The study comprises of African parents who migrated to NT in Australia from different demographics in Africa. This study used a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews to investigate African parents’ perception of their child’s post-secondary school aspiration. The outcome of this investigation revealed a lack of understanding of the NT Australian school systems and reporting strand on their children performance and the different pathways through which their children can access higher education in Australia. This study provided four recommendations to help African parents understand the NT Australian government policies and programs on education.
Highlights
This paper presents the outcome of the first phase of a research study entitled ‘It Takes a Village:(NT)
The data collected were analyzed to understand the concern of African parents on the low aspiration of youths towards higher education in the Northern Territory
The study was an outcome of the first phase of the research study designed to investigate the parental notion of low aspiration of African youths for higher education in the Northern Territory (NT)
Summary
This paper presents the outcome of the first phase of a research study entitled ‘It Takes a Village:(NT). The communal commonalities in culture and identity that exist within the African demographics in the NT make everyone ‘his brother’s keeper’. This shared understanding necessitated the need for the study when the issue of lack of aspiration of African youths was raised in the community forum. There are several studies in the area of educational aspiration, and very few were able to clearly resolve the concern of African parents about their children aspiration for higher education in the NT. Bu (2014) [1] position on educational aspiration was limited to the family configuration and the advantage that firstborn enjoys in accessing education. Karim and Suffin (2017) [2]
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