The Aboriginal professor who was expelled from school at 13

Jack Beetson is a Ngemba Aboriginal man from western New South Wales in Australia. In the late 1960s when he was choosing subjects for high school, Jack was interested in studying commerce and history. Then a teacher told him; "Aboriginal kids don't study those subjects," diverting him to woodwork and metalwork instead. One year later aged 13, Jack was expelled with the other Aboriginal boys in his class and earned money picking cotton in the cottonfields. It wasn't until Jack was 28 years old and living in Sydney that he decided to go back to school and complete his education. He enrolled at Tranby College, Australia's oldest Indigenous college. After graduating he went on to become a teacher at Tranby and then the college Principal. He quickly became a well-known name in education in Australia, playing a role in drafting the UN's Declaration on the Rights of Indigneous Peoples and was awarded a UN Unsung Hero Award. Today he's director of the Literacy for Life Foundation, championing Indigenous adult literacy programmes across Australia.

Presenter: Jo Fidgen

Producer: May Cameron

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(Photo: Jack Beetson. Credit: Joy Lai/State Library NSW)