Karalundi

Karalundi College is an independent Seventh-day Adventist co-educational secondary boarding school for indigenous Australian students, located on the Great Northern Highway, 58 kilometres (36 mi) north of Meekatharra, Western Australia, Australia.

Karalundi College is an independent Seventh-day Adventist co-educational secondary boarding school for indigenous Australian students, located on the Great Northern Highway, 58 kilometres (36 mi) north of Meekatharra, Western Australia, Australia.

The Karalundi College is an affiliated school of the Seventh-day Adventist education system, the world's second largest Christian school system.

Karalundi was established in 1954 as an Aboriginal boarding school run by the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Western Australia. It was begun after its founder Pastor Dudley Vaughan was challenged to begin such a work by Avy Curley OAM. The property was 55 kilometres (34 mi) north of Meekatharra. The school served the Murchison, Upper Gascoyne, Pilbara and Western Desert regions. Classes began in September 1954, with a focus on literacy, numeracy and practical skills.During its early years of operation, Karalundi was rated by the Western Australian Department of Education as a "most efficient establishment" and commended for the "relatively high standard of attainment" by students. Karalundi was closed in September 1974 in a government move to phase out church involvement in indigenous affairs. The property was sold into private hands and operated as a farm-stay enterprise for 12 years.In the early 1980s, many past students came to recognise that under the state system, their children's education was inferior to their own. These parents lobbied the state government for Karalundi to reopen as an independent parent-controlled Christian Aboriginal boarding school, where children would be educated away from the problems associated with alcohol abuse and gain an education focusing on practical life skills, as well as literacy and numeracy. The advocacy group was supported by the Seventh-day Adventist Church and, in August 1986, Karalundi was reopened as such.The school has been the location of published studies of a peer support program and a health promotion program in 1998.Karalundi has recently extended its secondary program to include Years 11 and 12 and is recognised as one of the leading schools in Aboriginal education in Western Australia.