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Articles on Truancy

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What happens when your classmates keep leaving? The impact of school transience on pupils ‘left behind’

Children who move schools often can struggle. But so too can those who stay put while others come and go. More attention needs to be paid to these often-forgotten victims of school transience.
Disadvantaged children find schools increasingly irrelevant to their lives. www.shutterstock.com

Why is school not working for so many young people?

Australian education fails one in four young people. It is time we started exploring why school is not working for increasing numbers of disadvantaged children.
Leader of the pack: Djalu Gurruwiwi of the Galpu clan leads younger performers at the 2013 Garma Festival in Arnhem Land. AAP Image/Youthu Yindi Foundation

Listen to your elders: inviting Aboriginal parents back to school

Tony Abbott is spending this week in North East Arnhem Land, part of his long-held hope “to be not just the Prime Minister but the Prime Minister for Aboriginal Affairs”. We asked our experts: what stories…
Federal Minister for Indigenous Affairs Nigel Scullion with students in the Tiwi Islands, Northern Territory. Research shows acting on overcrowded housing could greatly improve Indigenous kids’ school attendance in remote communities. AAP/Neda Vanovac

How crowded homes can lead to empty schools in the bush

Tony Abbott is spending this week in North East Arnhem Land, part of his long-held hope “to be not just the Prime Minister but the Prime Minister for Aboriginal Affairs”. We asked our experts: what stories…
The prosecution of parents for their child’s truancy has very little or no justification in legal or social principle. AAP

Getting tough on truancy: punishing parents is not the answer

Prosecuting parents for a child’s truancy is a reactive response that ignores the real issue. It turns a social problem into a criminal one, at a significant cost to schools, families and society. Recent…
We should acknowledge that the mainstream system of education doesn’t always know what is best for Aboriginal people. AAP/Neda Vanovac

Punishing truancy is not the answer in Indigenous communities

Indigenous education has been prioritised by Prime Minister Tony Abbott and the states at the recent COAG meeting. The focus is on truancy, with a school attendance target of 90-100%. “Punitive” measures…

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