‘Hidden crisis’: 7000 children not enrolled at NSW schools

There is an entire generation of children aged five to 17 missing out on an education at NSW schools. Read the stories of the kids who fell through the education system’s cracks.

Charley Gonzaga, 21, was one of thousands of kids who do not attend school regularly or at all. Picture: Jonathan Ng

They are the forgotten 7000, the children in NSW who are not just skipping school, they are not even enrolled in one.

Society has lost track of the five to 17-year-olds who are “falling through the cracks” and detached from any formal education, prompting experts to call for a national commitment to address the “hidden crisis”.

NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb told The Sunday Telegraph she was aware of the cohort and was determined to work with other organisations to find ways to re-engage them.

“It’s not a nine to five problem,” the commissioner said.

“We need a whole of community approach to show young people how to make better choices, and deter them from crime and risky behaviours like the recent TikTok crazes that are ending in tragedy and claiming lives.”

Experts fear many of the detached children are couch surfing and sleeping on the street.

7000 children in NSW are not even enrolled at a school.

Some are taking drugs, committing petty crimes and engaging in dangerous behaviours such as stealing cars, taunting police to chase them and posting their escapades on social media.

University of Melbourne academic Professor Jim Watterston estimates there are 50,000 school-aged in Australia – with some 7000 in NSW alone – who are “not recorded anywhere”.

“Many of these kids are so far lost, they’re just focusing on trying to stay safe and alive and get their next meal,” he said.

“It’s everyone’s business to make sure every kid is in school – because it’s immoral that so many are falling by the wayside. It should not happen in a country like Australia.”

The issue had also worsened through Covid, he said.

“School systems and governments use the catch-all term ‘disengaging’ which people think just refers to kids struggling at school, or playing truant,” Prof Watterston said.

Professor Jim Watterston, from the University of Melbourne.

“They don’t use the term ‘detached’ and so there’s this hidden crisis.”

Prof Watterston called for a national approach for all schools and related government departments to share data to identify the educational status and current location of every school-aged student.

“Before we can do anything to support these kids, we need to find a way to discover where they are,” he said.

“Too often we are allowing them to opt out of school, they’re falling through the cracks or trap doors in the system. When they leave one school, or move to a different area or state, we’re losing track of them.

“In a country with one of the best education systems in the world, where there’s just four million kids in schools, surely we can create a database which can then be hooked into health and juvenile justice and other relevant departments.”

Professor Watterston suggested a database combining educational, health and juvenile justice departments to keep track of children leaving school.

A Department of Communities and Justice spokesman said they were committed to improving the safety and wellbeing of children, including their access to education, in collaboration with other government and non-government agencies and the community.

The NSW Department of Education said it did not have data on how many children were out of school but that there was a range of strategies to identify and support children at risk of poor or non- attendance.

BULLYING MADE MY SCHOOL LIFE UNBEARABLE

Eastern suburbs student Charley Gonzaga had never skipped school, until cyber-bullying reared its ugly head in her final year.

It turned the once high-achieving student into an anxious and depressed recluse, who would battle to get out of bed in the morning, let alone make it to class.

While she remained enrolled in school, she was lucky to get there even once a week for much of the school year.

Charley Gonzaga, 22, was tormented so badly by bullies in high school she barely went to class. Picture: Jonathan Ng

It was only the support of one teacher, and an outside agency, that stopped her from quitting altogether.

“I was cyberbullied on Snapchat and Facebook and received horrible threats and messages, with students telling me to kill myself,” she said.

“All my friends turned against me and at school I was ignored and taunted.

“Looking back it made no sense at all, it had started after a break-up and just built from there. I guess they could see I was vulnerable.”

Charley’s mother contacted the school but she said they felt unsupported.

“I think it was all just seen as ‘teen drama’ but when you’re living it, it’s unbearable,” she said.

“There were a few teachers who really helped, my English teacher in particular who talked to me, let me sit in his classroom at lunchtime, recommended I reach out to headspace and convinced me to come back and sit for my final exams.”

Charley, now 22, didn’t get the high ATAR she’d once been expected to achieve, but she did get her HSC and she’s proud of that.

Ms Gonzaga, battled through and sat her HSC. Picture: Jonathan Ng

She’s taken a different pathway to get into UNSW, where she’s now studying psychology and neuroscience.

She’s also a mental health advocate, speaking to other young people about the importance of not opting out of school, despite the challenges.

“I personally really value education,” she said. “I tell students who may be at risk of dropping out to keep searching for the support they need – if they can’t find it at school, there are services outside they can reach out to.”

HOME LEARNING TAUGHT ME NOTHING

Having recently graduated from law school, it’s remarkable that Natasha* missed so much school.

Removed by her parents at age eight under the guise of “home schooling”, she said she received no formal education until she was 22.

“I was not disengaged from school, but was forcibly removed from school at age 8 by my parents and forbidden from returning,” she says in a report by Professor Jim Watterston.

Natasha* disappeared from school aged eight.

“My mother was (and remains) very ill, both mentally and physically, and while her intention may have been to provide my sisters and I with an education, this did not occur.”

She said her experience exposed flaws in the system.

“In this way, ‘home schooling’ can provide a cover for neglect. I know of others in the ‘homeschool’ community who had similar experiences,” she said.

GONE AND FORGOTTEN BY THE SYSTEM

WHEN he was in year five, Jack* simply stopped going to school – and although he did not return to class for five years, his absence was never marked.

Jim Watterston said Jack’s case, which also did not come to the attention of NSW juvenile justice or health systems, was “like many invisible young Australians”.

“He slipped through the system – no one picked up he was on meth and not in school,” Prof Watterston said.

“That’s how these kids can simply disappear if they don’t find the right support.”

From the age of 10 to 15, Jack was addicted to methamphetamine and either slept on the streets or, if he was lucky, friends’ couches.

At 15 he found the Pathways College in Brisbane, and later graduated from year 12 – which is where he met Prof Watterston.