Darwin school attendance drops to just 5.5 per cent in final week of Term 1

SCHOOL attendance across the Territory dropped markedly on Monday with just 6.3 per cent of students attending classes compared to 27.7 per cent on Friday

School attendance across the Territory dropped remarkably on Monday with just 6.3 per cent of students attending compared to 27.7 per cent on Friday.

SCHOOL attendance across the Territory dropped markedly on Monday with just 6.3 per cent of students attending compared to 27.7 per cent on Friday.

In Darwin, 5.5 per cent of students went to school on Monday compared to 33.4 per cent on Friday, while in the Palmerston and rural region, there was 6.4 per cent attendance on Monday compared to 31.4 per cent on Friday.

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At Leanyer Primary School, 95 per cent of schoolchildren stayed at home on Monday after a student’s family members tested positive for COVID-19.

Education Department chief executive Karen Weston said only 26 of the school’s 580 students had turned up to Leanyer Primary School on Monday.

It came after the parent and baby sibling of a student at the school tested positive for coronavirus over the weekend.

The school student tested negative for the virus and has not been to the school since March 25.

Ms Weston said the health authorities advised that Leanyer Primary School should stay open.

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“Attendance has dropped quite a bit, it was last week about 40 per cent and (on Monday) it was about 5 per cent,” she said.

“We’ve also had NT Health at the school to answer any questions from parents or staff.”

Ms Weston said the advice from the Health Department was that the Leanyer Primary School community was at very “low risk”.

“The principal and her staff have been supporting each other and the families so they feel comfortable about having their children attend school,” she said.

Treasurer Nicole Manison said she had sent her child to Leanyer PS on Monday because she was confident it was safe.

Territory schools will have pupil-free days this week in the lead-up to Easter to help teachers prepare for flexible learning.

Ms Weston said the pupil-free days were important for teachers to plan for a more flexible delivery in term two.

She said the flexibility would differ from school to school depending on access to technology and the number of students.

However, Ms Weston emphasised that school would be compulsory from Term 2.

“We’ve had a little bit of flexibility over the last couple of weeks where parents could make choices leading into the school holidays but school is compulsory from Term 2,” she said.