Jilkminggan School services the community of Jilkminggan
with a population of 200-300. It is situated in Mangarrayi country on
Elsey Station, 37km east of Mataranka in the Katherine Region, NT.
When Aboriginal families left Elsey Station for Jilkminggan in 1974, attendance declined at the school at Elsey Station. In 1975, the Education Department moved the Elsey School mobile units to Jilkminggan (or Djembere as it was known then). The new primary school buildings were completed in 1993. Facilities include 2 classrooms (one for transition - year 2; one for year 3 - 6), a library and administration block and a toilet block.
These new buildings are a great improvement on the silver bullets, being of sound block construction on concrete slabs. Split air conditioning and special floor coverings also contribute to noise reduction essential for the many hearing impaired students.
The secondary
school was set up in 1987 by parents, who donated a donga and built a
bough shade, so their children didn't have to leave the community to pursue
secondary studies. At first students were enrolled with NT Secondary Correspondence
School and were assisted by DEET tutors. In 1992, the Department took
over the responsibility for the secondary students and provided a teacher.
In 1993, on completion of the new school buildings, the high school students
moved into the old "silver bullets" from the tin shed which
they previously occupied.
