What Happened at Hermannsburg?

For some years now the Finke River Mission has been concerned about the educational programme at Hermannsburg. There was very low correlation between the amount of effort and resources provided and the results, particularly academic progress. Associated with this was always the problem of non-Aboriginal teacher morale, with a resultant high staff turnover. Over the past years we have managed to maintain a qualified staff who have, generally, been committed to their work and have been also prepared to give service for quite long periods of time. However, the problem of poor motivation on the part of the Aboriginal students, with spasmodic attendance and a consequent lack of results remained.