Jess Whitley, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa and Beth Saggers, Queensland University of Technology
Punishing attendance problems fails to address the issues facing students, from family responsibilities to barriers related to racism or inadequate support for disabilities.
Rachel Williamson-Dean, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau; Gavin Brown, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau, and Pat Bullen, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
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.
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.
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…
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…
Parents could soon face fines for parking too near to a school, according to a new Manifesto Club report on new Public Spaces Protection Orders. This comes after a record number of 63,837 fines were imposed…
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…
At the end of last week the government released the autumn figures for pupil absence in English schools. The figures show an ongoing drop in the number of children skipping school. But they also raise…
The recent debate in the House of Commons on the cost of going away during the school holidays has reignited a long-running concern about price banding in the tourism industry and the educational impact…
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…