Utyerre Apanpe members have continued our passion and commitment to leading reform in education by participating in our 2021 gathering.

The Utyerre Apanpe 2021 Forums were held under COVID-19 restrictions in Mparntwe, where only limited physical attendance was allowed. A virtual opportunity was also provided during these gatherings for members to continue the development of the next stages of reform.

Utyerre Apanpe (pronounced oo-cherra a-parn-pa) members are a diverse and determined collective of First Nations educators leading and delivering a national education system. The network is a place for knowledge and language expertise to be reclaimed.

We want to inform the system change agenda required to make First Nations voices and actions visible. These gatherings are not supported by Government. We are an independent, collective membership.

These gatherings are for our professional, cultural, familial, and personal development. They provide nourishment in the knowledge we own and share through our kinship systems and cultural responsibilities. We need to take this time to renew and review how, who and what we share across our Nations and the Utyerre Apanpe Forums provide the space and time to do this.

The final meeting of 2021 provided the opportunity to discuss, review and consider the draft MK Turner Review. This is a comprehensive review of First Nations education systems and the ways that it can be integrated into national policy. Utyerre Apanpe participants are working on the Review to endorse it for an official launch and delivery to Government and Mr David Gonski in the coming years.

The purpose of a First Nations-led and created education Review is two-fold:

• to compliment the Gonski Review, and;
• to break down the stereotypes, stigma and expectations that mainstream education has of current and future First Nations generations.

The MK Turner Review shines a light on the First Nations education markers, curriculum, workforce, policy and programs that were missing from the Gonski 2011 Education Review (updated 2018).

Conversations, collaborations and further reviewing of the document will take place over the remainder of 2021. Utyerre Apanpe and its partnerships look forward to sharing this Review in the coming months with the wider Australian audience.

We will be meeting annually to continue advocating for First Nations-led system change in education.