English in these communities is like a foreign language as not everyone speaks it and daily life is conducted in the local aboriginal language. There are 20 schools in the Northern Territory accredited with Bilingual programs. These schools support 34 languages and dialects. The approximate enrolment for 1998 was 3783 students. Put simply it is 'learning and teaching in and through two languages'.
School education builds on knowledge that children come to school with.
Also in the early years of schooling students receive a strong oral language foundation in English. In about Year 4 students use all this knowledge of Oral English as well as understandings of literacy in their first language as a base to move into English literacy. During the early 1970's Bilingual Education programs were set up under a Commonwealth Government initiative in various remote Aboriginal community schools. Remote Aboriginal communities went through a rigorous consultation process to decide whether or not they wanted their community's children to participate in a Bilingual Education program. However funding for these programs and the education infrastructure which supports them has been continuously eroded since the advent of self government.