Remote student winner calls Kalkaringi home
Monday 13 February 2006
Kalkaringi’s Quitaysha Frith was presented with the inaugural Telstra Robyn and George Hewitson Remote Indigenous Student Award – an award that recognises outstanding achievement by a remote Indigenous student.
The Minister for Employment, Education and Training Syd Stirling, the principal, and teachers praised Quitaysha for her dedication and commitment to completing her Northern Territory Certificate Education (NTCE), and for excelling in her overall results.
Department of Employment, Education and Training Chief Executive Margaret Banks said 2005 was an exceptional year for the Territory, with a record 927 Year 12 students receiving their NTCE, including a record 25 graduates from remote community educational centres.
“Indigenous education is a top priority for the department, and we are reaching new heights with five of the remote community education centres producing remarkable graduate completion results,” she said.
“An award like this recognises Indigenous students, their commitment and achievement, and also honours the people that helped them get there.”
The new award is named after former Kalkaringi Principal George Hewitson and his wife and fellow teacher Robyn Hewitson – a couple who share a long history in Indigenous education and who helped Kalkaringi CEC make history in 2003 with the Territory’s first home-grown secondary graduates.
Three Kalkaringi students – one of which was Quitaysha – graduated in 2005, along with eight graduates from Maningrida, four from Yirrkala, three from Shepherdson College, and seven graduates from Our Lady of the Sacred Thamarrurr Catholic School at Wadeye.
Mr Hewitson said: “The Kalkaringi secondary students are an amazing, confident and ambitious group, who put all the hard work into their studies and really want to further their education at university”.
“There was such commitment by teacher Robyn, Quitaysha and fellow students Antoinette Bernard and Ramsey Paddy. The students put in all the effort – including homework programs and Saturday study hour sessions – and gave up their mid-year school holidays to keep on top of their studies,” he said. “This just shows the high level of commitment from the students.”
Quitaysha is keen to start a Bachelor of Visual Arts through Charles Darwin University this year, and her fellow classmates intend to further their studies in hospitality, tourism and fitness.