I believe the NT Government and Education Minister Jo Hersey deserve credit for the efforts being made to lift the levels of school attendance by children in our cities, towns, and remote communities. But from what I am observing in our cities—Darwin and Palmerston—my concern is that the battle is not yet being won.

When driving around our cities and suburbs—especially in the vicinity of shopping centres—during school hours, I am both concerned and amazed by the number of primary and secondary-aged students who are not at school.

Many shopping centres display signage confirming businesses will not serve unaccompanied children during school hours. However, given the number of children with accompanying adults, this approach has little effect, and school attendance is not increasing.

The sad irony is that these children are being deprived of education and will grow into adults with minimal literacy and numeracy skills. Then, the Education Department will be in the crosshairs of criticism for failing these children—when parents are the people responsible for their deprivation