When Aboriginal teenagers in the Illawarra are pushed out of mainstream classrooms, the reasons are often framed as individual failure.

However a new evaluation of an Aboriginal-designed education program suggests the problem may lie elsewhere.

The program, called Ngaramura, operates out of Coomaditchie United Aboriginal Corporation and works with Aboriginal young people who have been suspended, excluded or are at risk of disengaging from high school.

Rather than attempting to force students back into environments where they have already struggled, Ngaramura offers an alternative — combining academic support with cultural connection.

An evaluation published this year by an Aboriginal-led research team from the University of Wollongong found the program was helping students re-engage with learning after experiences of exclusion and disconnection from school.

The word Ngaramura comes from the Dharawal language and roughly translates to "see the way" - a meaning reflected in how the program approaches education.

Rather than focusing on deficits or behaviour management, the program focuses on belonging as the foundation for learning.

Researchers said the program was designed in response to the "entrenched" over-representation of Aboriginal students in school suspensions and exclusions, particularly in high school.

"Ngaramura is an Aboriginal-designed, strengths-based education program for Aboriginal young people," the authors wrote.

The evaluation drew on three years of observation, interviews and program data, and was conducted using an Indigenist research framework — meaning Aboriginal knowledge systems and community authority were central to both the program and its assessment.

According to the researchers, students involved in Ngaramura were more likely to remain engaged in learning when education was delivered with trusted Aboriginal adults and flexible pathways back into schooling, training or employment.

While the study stops short of claiming the program is a cure-all, it argues Ngaramura demonstrates what can happen when Aboriginal communities design solutions themselves.

The findings come as educators and policymakers continue to grapple with persistent gaps in school engagement and outcomes for Aboriginal students, despite decades of reform.