According to new Productivity Commission data, the rate of youngsters missing school due to mental health or sickness is on the rise.
After years of slight drops, the national primary school attendance rate in 2022 was 87.8 percent, a 4.5 percent decrease from 2021.
Mental Health Issues Add To Absenteeism
The ACT had the highest drop-off percentage in the country, with an attendance rate of 86.7 percent, a 6.1% decrease from the previous year.
South Australia (5%) and Victoria and New South Wales (both 4.8%) saw lower attendance than the national average. High school attendance fell to 84.7 percent, a 4.1% decline from 2021.
The Northern Territory (72.6%) has the lowest attendance rate in the country, followed by Tasmania (82.3%) and Western Australia (83.8 percent).
The reduction is most noticeable in South Australia, where rates fell by 4.6%, followed by Victoria (4.5 percent). According to Correna Haythorpe, president of the Australian Education Union, a drop in school attendance became increasingly obvious during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. She described the problem as “multi-layered,” but she also mentioned the growing trend of school refusal.
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What Is Anxiety-Based School Avoidance?
School refusal, dubbed “anxiety-based school avoidance” by specialists, is on the rise, prompting a Senate probe last year.
In Victoria, 11,825 kids were absent from school at some point in 2021 due to school refusal, while in Tasmania, school refusal was a factor in 23% of school absences last year.
According to Andrew Pierpoint, president of the Australian Secondary Principals’ Association, mental health is a major factor in student absence. He stated that additional resources for teachers and principals were needed to support pupils and that a national approach was required.
According to the report on government services, the national rate of students progressing from years 10 to years 11 and 12 has decreased. In 2021, the retention rate was 81.6 percent, a 0.5 percent decrease from the previous year and a 1.3% decrease from five years previously.
The greatest dip occurred in Western Australia, where the rate of students returning as full-time students fell from 94.5 percent in 2016 to 87.1 percent in 2021. The ACT had the highest retention rate at 89.7%, while the Northern Territory (67.5%) and Tasmania (74.5%) had the lowest.
The report also revealed that public school enrolment was at a 10-year low, with only 65 percent of Australia’s 4.03 million pupils registered.
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