Half of students miss a month of school amid fears it is irrelevant

For teens like Sarah, the mood is shifting inside Australia’s schools — and a new national report is sounding the alarm as more students stop showing up to class.

Exclusive: More than half of government secondary students miss a month of school a year, with many claiming it is because what they’re being taught is not relevant.

The first State of Australia’s Children Report offers the most comprehensive snapshot to date of the wellbeing of the nation’s kids, with the results showing that the drop in school attendance is also being fuelled by fears of never being able to afford a house.

Nearly 40 per cent of 12- and 13-year-olds listed financial security and housing among the greatest concerns facing their generation; that rose to half among 16- and 17-year-olds.

Report author Megan O’Connell, from the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth, said the landmark report — developed with UNICEF Australia and supported by the Minderoo Foundation — found an increasing number of kids feel school is not providing them with the skills that they need for their future.

“They’ll talk about, ‘How I’m going to buy a house and how I’m going to budget?’ They didn’t feel that school was matching up to that,” Ms O’Connell said.

“We can see there that the children who are most vulnerable attend a lot less than the children who are in the wealthiest suburbs.

“But all children in each socio-economic class have been impacted by falling attendance.”

Ms O’Connell said worrying about being able to afford their own home is now a bigger concern than the environment for some children.

Sarah Bunbury, 17, says she was just 14 when she first started fearing the future. Picture: Steve Pohlner

Sarah Bunbury, 17, from Brisbane, plans to go to university in the hope she will get a higher paying job.

She said she was 14 when she first started worrying about her future financial security and said schools are not preparing kids for the real world.

“It just feels like we’re not being taught how to handle our finances properly,” Sarah said. “We’re not being taught how to save, invest, manage our bank accounts or file our taxes. That’s something you’ve really gotta figure out on your own.”

Hayden, from Kirawee in Sydney, says fears about housing are provoked from social media. Picture: Tom Parrish

Hayden, 17, from Sydney, said a lot of the fear around housing starts on social media and kids coming out of primary school were being exposed to it.

“On Instagram sometimes you’ll see news clips of people who are struggling to buy a house in their 20s and it’ll be very shocking, especially for people who are a lot younger and are still learning about the world,” Hayden said.

The report also looked at the younger years too and found only 53 per cent of kids arriving at school aged five are developmentally on track across all five domains measured by the Australian Early Development Census.

It also found fewer parents are reading to their children.

Minderoo co-founder Nicola Forrest says too many children start school without the foundations they need. Picture: Jessica Wyld

Minderoo co-founder Nicola Forrest said a lack of investment in the early years fuels problems that last a lifetime.

“These years are a fleeting window, yet too many children start school without the foundations they need,” Ms Forrest said.

Mother-of-four Alianna Celisano, 39, from Perth, said all her kids had early intervention – such as occupational therapy or speech therapy – prior to starting school and are thriving.

“By the time school comes these kids can’t possibly catch up,” Ms Celisano, who previously worked in early education, said. “Making the most of that window is crucial.”

UNICEF Australia’s Chief Advocate for Children Nicole Breeze said the report paints a stark picture.

“In a country like Australia we have all the conditions and infrastructure to be the best place in the world for children to grow up,” Ms Breeze said. “It is unacceptable that suicide remains the leading cause of death for young Australians and that we are seeing persistent negative trends.”

Originally published as Half of students miss a month of school amid fears it is irrelevant