CORONAVIRUS —
SCHOOLS — TRUANCY OFFICERS
348. Mr I.C. BLAYNEY to the Premier:
The break in schooling due to
COVID-19 has resulted in a drop in attendance at some of Geraldton's
schools. Instead of threatening parents with a $1 000 fine for their child's
non-attendance, will the Premier consider a more meaningful and long-term
solution, such as reinstating school truancy officers, who would be responsible
for tracking attendance and managing absent children?
Mr M.
McGOWAN replied:
The
premise of the question is incorrect. I have worked constructively, as has the
Minister for Education and Training, with school communities across Western
Australia and with individual schools in order to get attendance back up. We
now have attendance at over 90 per cent. The last figure I heard for Victoria
was around three per cent. For New South Wales, it was somewhere around 30 per cent,
and Queensland was the same. Maybe those figures are growing a little, but we
have over 90 per cent attendance.
We worked constructively, but we had to make decisions. We
said that education is best conducted in the classroom at school in a face-to-face
environment, and that we needed our workforce to go back in a safe way. That is
what has happened. After three weeks, we reviewed the choice arrangement, which
already had attendance at over 80 per cent,
and said that mandatory attendance would come back, as is normal in the school
environment, with an exemption for
vulnerable students, students with a vulnerable family member, or students who
are unwell. Mandatory attendance is back. I do not accept the premise of
the member's question. I think that the Western Australian government, in particular the education minister,
has managed the situation well and has secured attendance at school.
That has allowed thousands upon thousands of families to go back to work. Schooling
is incredibly important in getting our economy back up.
As part of doing that, we
announced additional resources. Some of those were specifically directed
towards families who might have some difficulty in getting their children back
to school. From memory, we announced two categories of staff: a group of
teachers to work with families who might have difficulty getting their children
back to school, and another group of teachers to work with students who might
be in the vulnerable category—by that, I mean people who might have an
illness, or have a family member who has an autoimmune condition or whatever it
might be, so they do not feel that it is right for them to be back at school at
this time. There were two categories of teachers to work in that area, with
about 20 additional staff in one and 40 additional staff in the other.
With over 90 per cent attendance, which was basically the
norm prior to COVID-19, we have largely got people back at school.
I have not received any
advice to this effect—I expect that I would have if it had occurred—but
I am not aware of any fines having been issued. I do not accept the
premise of the member's question. I think that the Western Australian
government has shown considerable bravery compared with governments in the
eastern states and has made policy decisions that have got schools back and
education happening, and are getting kids educated more quickly. We have
provided support to children who may have difficulty getting back, and have
allowed for parents to get back to work.