The average attendance rate in the Northern Territory's most-remote schools has slipped below 50 per cent, prompting calls for emergency financial support for an education system in "crisis".
According to the latest Northern Territory government figures, overall attendance at public schools dropped to 73 per cent in 2022, down from 77 per cent in 2021 and 78 per cent in 2020.
In schools deemed "outer regional" — which encompasses Darwin and surrounds — attendance dropped from 85 to 82 per cent and, in "remote" schools, attendance dropped from 73 to 68 per cent.
Among the 80 or so schools deemed "very remote", the average attendance rate dropped from 51 per cent in 2021 to 48 per cent in 2022.
Australian Education Union NT president Michelle Ayres said the latest attendance figures demonstrated the need to urgently transition away from the government's "effective enrolment" funding model, which bases a school's funding primarily on attendance rather than enrolment.
"We've been saying this since the funding model was brought in...that linking funding to attendance wasn't going to work," Ms Ayres said.
"If you look at attendance, there is a a clear downward projection. And that started from when they brought in the 'effective enrolment' model of funding," she said.
"Our schools are still under that funding model. And, obviously, this attendance data shows very clearly that it is impacting our schools on a day-to-day basis."
An ABC investigation last year revealed the territory's Department of Education's "effective enrolment" funding model — which bases a school's funding primarily on attendance rather than enrolment — meant some remote schools were receiving funding for less than half of their enrolled students.
Critics said the model — which has been operating since 2015 — had contributed to plummeting attendance rates because school budgets were being cut as attendance dropped, meaning schools had less resources to re-engage students.
Education Minister Eva Lawler then announced the funding model would be scrapped, in accordance with recommendations from an independent review, but that it would take two to five years to fully transition to an enrolment-based funding model "without attendance components".
An Education Department spokesperson said the government was "committed" to changing the funding model, to be based on enrolment, but said the review into the model found a transition away from it would be "complex" and "take time to implement".
Union, Northern Territory government call for federal help
Ms Ayres called for "emergency support" for the Northern Territory's education system while a long-term strategy was developed.
"We need the federal government and the Northern Territory government to come to a decision to put more money into education in the long run," Ms Ayres said.
"And, in the short run, we would like to see the federal government step up and provide a bit of emergency support to the Northern Territory because, really, our schools are at an absolute crisis point.
"I am constantly astounded [that] this isn't something we're talking about day in and day out … It's devastating."
In Parliament last month Ms Lawler, the member for Drysdale, said she would be pushing for schools to get "full funding" as a part of upcoming negotiations with the federal government.
In a statement, federal Education Minister Jason Clare said the federal government was "committed to working with the states and territories to get every school on a path to full and fair funding level".
He also said there had been a drop in attendance rates across the country over the past decade.
"We need to know why this is happening and that's why education ministers from across the country have tasked our top education researchers to look at this," he said.
'This has moved beyond remote areas'
Ms Ayres said that, while the impacts of effective enrolment had been apparent in remote schools for years, the drop in attendance across the board demonstrated the widespread impact of the funding model.
"Until now, this has been affecting schools in lower socio-economic areas, where parents may not have the understanding of what's going on. And no one's really identified that it is the funding model that's causing this downward spiral," Ms Ayers said.
"But, in the last couple of years, this has moved beyond just affecting remote schools and those that are in lower-socio economic areas, and it has started to affect some of our bigger schools as well."
Research leader of education and training at Darwin's Batchelor Institute John Guenther said that, while effective enrolment played a role in declining attendance, he suspects there are other factors also at play.
"These trends have been happening in every jurisdiction, to varying degrees, probably worse in the Northern Territory than the others. But the declines are notable in Western Australia, and [in] Queensland and in South Australia, as well," he said.
"So, it's not just the funding model that has caused this. And nor is it just COVID. What I get a sense of, though, is there's something else going on."
He said there had been a growing "normalisation of non-engagement" across the territory, but especially in remote areas.
"When you get to that critical point of less than 50 per cent attendance rates as an average, so all of your mates, all of your friends and your family members, if they're all at school, then you'd probably be inclined to join them," he said.
"But, if more than half of them are not at school, then you're probably more likely to join them, wherever else they are."
Mr Guenther said governments needed to recognise when policies such as effective enrolment were not working.
"I think we've got to be innovative. We've got to be creative, not frightened to make mistakes, but not frightened to stop things from continuing on when we know that they're not working."
Drop in attendance has wider impacts
Mr Guenther said a continued decline in school attendance could lead to "absolutely devastating consequences" for the broader community, long-term.
"I think, then, it's almost inevitable that issues around crime, child protection, health and wellbeing, [such as] mental health will go up as we see these rates of attendance and engagement [go down]," he said.
As an independent member of the NT Legislative Assembly (MLA), Yingiya Guyula has long campaigned for better funding for schools, particularly in remote areas.
Speaking in parliament late last month, he described effective enrolment as an example of "systematic racism", because of the disproportionate impact it has on Aboriginal communities.
"Our schools cannot wait another two to five years for this funding model to be replaced. It must happen now."
Ms Lawler refuted the claim that the funding model was racist.
Mr Guyula said he believed disengagement with the education system was contributing to rates of youth crime, which have been on the rise across the Northern Territory.
"A generation of kids [is] being left behind, and then they wonder why Don Dale [Darwin's youth detention centre] is full," he said.
In a statement, an Education Department spokesperson said there had been an overall 0.6 per cent increase in attendance in Term 1 of 2023 compared to the same time in 2022.
Term 1 2023 attendance data is not yet publicly available.
"Attendance and enrolment is a key focus of the department and data on student attendance at school is carefully monitored," the spokesperson said.
