Eight years ago the Commonwealth Government appointed the first Aboriginal teachers’ aides to schools in New South Wales. Their primary task was to bridge the gap between the Aboriginal community and the school. The aides also had the responsibility of encouraging Aboriginal children to gain further education.

Mrs Betty Wright of Kempsey was one of the first Aboriginal women to train as a teachers’ aide. In 1975 she was appointed to West Kempsey Primary School as its first A.T.A. While working there Betty attended the first Basic Training Program in Aboriginal Adult Education at Sydney University.

People attending this course faced many problems. Most had left families behind, financial support was inadequate and, for some, it was their first visit to Sydney. Of the original twenty-eight students enrolled, only sixteen stayed until the end.

Betty found the most valuable aspect of the course was the chance to learn to develop communication skills. “Talking to white people can be difficult if you are black and have a deep, inbred inferiority complex,” she says. She remembers the anxiety she felt during her first months in schools, wondering how the white staff would accept her. She also felt fear at being the only Aboriginal among so many whites.