Today we are doing something that hasn’t been done before – pioneering a School of the Air for outback children.

Ken Rudd, Headmaster, Alice Springs Higher Primary School

School of the Air was established in Alice Springs in 1951. It was heralded as a world first, as students from hundreds of kilometres away tuned in with radio transceivers to participate. The new School of the Air would provide education to geographically isolated students living in outback Australia, creating a connected school community.

Education by post

Before School of the Air, students living in remote areas relied on correspondence schools for their education. Lessons and completed work were exchanged through the postal service, with students mailing their materials to be marked and receiving them back by return post. In 1916, Australia’s first correspondence school, Blackfriars, was founded in Sydney. In its opening year, 27 children were enrolled, and this number grew rapidly in the years that followed.

Correspondence schools operated slowly, with students sometimes waiting weeks to receive lessons. These then had to be completed, dispatched, marked and returned – a process that could take months.

Radio power

The difficulties of learning in the outback were observed by Adelaide Miethke, educationalist, activist and first female president of the Royal Flying Doctor Service's South Australian section. While visiting cattle stations near Alice Springs, Miethke discussed problems of schooling with families, hoping to find a solution that would 'bridge the lonely distance' of the outback. Inspired by the Royal Flying Doctor Service's radio network, she proposed that it be used for not only medical assistance but also education.

After years of planning and experimentation, School of the Air began operation as a branch of the Royal Flying Doctor Service in Alice Springs. Using two-way radios, students participated in a real-time interactive lesson. For many, this was the first time they had ever heard their teachers' and peers' voices.

Lessons on the air

School of the Air lesson broadcasts were initially held 3 times a week in half-hour sessions. This quickly increased to 5 times a week. Lessons aimed to supplement correspondence work and gave students the opportunity to ask their teacher questions. At the end of the year, a school paper was created to celebrate students' work.

Continuing the connection

Following the successful establishment of the Alice Springs School of the Air, more school centres gradually opened across Australia.

Today, using mainly online platforms, School of the Air continues to bridge the vast distances of the outback. By preserving records about School of the Air, we can trace the evolution of remote education and appreciate its lasting impact on educational access and innovation across Australia.

Olivia Niethe is Acting Assistant Curator at National Archives of Australia.