SCHOOL STUDENT TRUANCY

Wednesday 14^th November 2007

Rev Fred Nile MLC, Leader of the Christian Democratic Party, has raised the issue of School Truancy during question time in Parliament.

Reverend the Hon. FRED NILE: I wish to ask the Minister for Education and Training a question without notice. Is it a fact that the Department of Education and Training has released a list of incentives offered to students across the State to keep them in the classroom, such as lucky dips, breakfast, class barbecues and football match tickets? How many children are truanting from New South Wales Government schools each day so as to warrant these extreme measures? What steps are being taken to ensure schools discipline truanting children? What action in cooperation with the education department is the New South Wales Police Force taking to force truanting children to return to their schools?

The Hon. JOHN DELLA BOSCA: I do not have the precise numbers that the honourable member has asked for, but I can tell him that on any given day there is less than 1 per cent unexplained absence from school of children or young people of compulsory schooling age. That does not necessarily mean that they are truanting, because they may in fact just not have had the proper advice from parents in relation to sickness or other valid reason for not attending. All New South Wales schools monitor student attendance; it is regularly reported in the annual reports of schools and, of course, in school reports to parents.

Home school liaison officers report that truancy occurs infrequently in comparison with other absences. In New South Wales most students attend school each day. The number of absences amongst both primary and secondary school students has remained approximately the same since 1999 with a number of small annual fluctuations. While a relatively small number of students truant, truancy is a dangerous activity because it places children and young people beyond the supervision of responsible adults. Each school has a discipline policy, which sets out clear expectations for regular student attendance and consequences of truancy.

Schools with below average rates of attendance are required to have attendance action plans, which outline resources, strategies and targets for reducing absences. Regions are required to have a regional attendance action plan to coordinate school plans, and the use of regional resources to address priorities. There is a field force of 84 specialist home school liaison officers who work with students, schools and families to improve school attendance. In addition, there are 11 Aboriginal student liaison officers who focus on supporting Aboriginal students, their schools and communities and, generally speaking, one of their key focuses is improving attendance.

Home school liaison officers and Aboriginal school liaison officers conduct regular anti-truancy campaigns and they do so in joint operation with the New South Wales Police Force. Operations are conducted in places such as shopping malls, amusement arcades, railway stations and parks—it is not necessary to have a great imagination to envisage where they might be needed. A recent initiative implemented by a number of schools is using SMS text to inform parents when their children are absent from school without explanation, and a common leave pass system has been implemented across the State to identify students who have legitimate reasons to be away from school premises during school hours. During an operation, students found without a leave pass are directed to return to school where consequences, if truancy is identified, are dealt with according to the school's discipline policy and regional school plans.

The member would no doubt be aware of comments I made recently in regard to students not attending school with the apparent consent of parents who have declined to continue to send them to school or enrol them in school. The Government takes a very dim view of parents who encourage children not to attend school or indeed keep them away from school. I am personally reviewing the relevant penalties and practices; indeed I have directed the department to vary practice in regard to the threshold of prosecution of parents in such cases.