Here where I live – and everywhere where education is insufficiently valued and appreciated.

The ‘Sunday Territorian’ (December 10, 2017) reported that the Department of Education was prosecuting 25 parents for the non attendance of their children at school. This was up from the few cases that had been taken to court since the introduction of school attendance initiatives in 2014.

Truancy is not a new problem. There have been issues surrounding school attendance in both rural and urban areas in the NT going back to the 1970’s. The matter highlighted in the Sunday Territorian is simply a continuation of what has been a number one issue for as long as the NT has been in charge of its educational programs. Over time, formal processes that were both encouraging of school attendance and punitive in holding out the threat of prosecuting families whose children are habitual non-attendees, have been trialled.

There have been programs with catchy appeal to the public. ‘Catch the School Buzz’, was one. Another was ‘Every Child, Every Day’. However, slogans and catchy buzz words do not, of themselves, change attitudes about school attendance.

These programs have been long on process and short on meaningful outcomes.

In more recent years, both Territory and Federal Governments have seized upon non-attendance as an issue that needs to be corrected. The Australian Government has spent around $100 million on funding school attendance officers each year. They support the need for school attendance not only in the NT, but in the remoter areas of WA, SA, Queensland and NSW. There has been little correction of the problem.

Our own government adds to this program through the employment of school attendance officers in our cities and towns. It is their job to encourage reluctant students and non-supportive families to become more positive in their attitudes about school. They regularly visit schools to ascertain if there are attendance issues. They follow up with visits to students and families who find the issue of attendance to be problematic.

These support programs are positively oriented and every assistance is provided for errant students and non-compliant families. However, if all else fails, action does need to be taken. If taking families to court has to be the consequence, then so be it!

There is a corollary. Fine imposts are substantial and the ability of families to pay what is due would have to be questioned. What happens if fines remain unpaid?

School attendance was, is and will remain a key issue in the NT, especially in the more remote regions.