Students at Kormilda College in Darwin could be completing the same work as Victorian students under proposed changes being considered as part of a takeover of the embattled school, an education union has warned.
In June this year, one of the country's top private schools, Haileybury, purchased Kormilda College, Australia's largest Indigenous boarding school.
Haileybury is Australia's largest school and educates more than 4,000 students on campuses in China and Melbourne.
Before the takeover, Kormilda was facing a financial and leadership crisis and stayed afloat by using a $5 million offer from the NT Government in 2016, and a desperate scramble for funding for the 2017 year ended when Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion gave Kormilda a lifeline until a long-term solution was found.
The 2018 year will see Kormilda's name changed to Haileybury Rendall School and students will be wearing a new uniform.
The Independent Education Union's NT branch secretary, Terry Burke, said the Haileybury leadership team was planning on introducing a new curriculum for students.
"They're phasing out the international baccalaureate [program and] they're now going to teach the Victorian certificate of education, not the Northern Territory - South Australian certificate."
He said the new curriculum would be taught by teachers sent up from Melbourne.
A vision for on-campus boarding
The union has raised concerns about the future of Kormilda's boarding facilities, which predominately house Indigenous students from remote communities.
Mr Burke said the new leadership planned to introduce international boarding by 2020 but had also considered downsizing the on-campus facilities.
But Haileybury principal and chief executive Derek Scott has told the ABC the school firstly aimed to improve the facilities of the three boarding houses currently on campus.
"The first part is ensuring that all boarding facilities have air conditioning - which they currently do not," he said.
Staff redundancies
Kormilda staff have also learned their fate and were told in meetings this week whether or not they would be keeping their jobs in the upcoming school year.
Mr Burke from the Independent Education Union said the process had been handled poorly, with no voluntary redundancy options and minimal consultation with staff before they were told they would lose their jobs.
"We've been getting emails saying they've decided to have these meetings and that staff will be told whether they're redundant or not [at those meetings]," he said.
Mr Scott said staff were treated according to standard process.
"Together with our human resources consultant we have ensured an appropriate level of consultation, and ... the process was conducted professionally and with compassion," he said.
The ABC has approached Kormilda College for comment but the request was denied.
