She said guardians could not physically make their children get an education.  “Children have all the rights these days,” Mrs Mayo said.

She said further discussion did need to be held in the community to “get to the bottom” of the reasons behind  truancy.

 She did not approve of Mount Isa  Mayor Tony McGrady’s opinion that he had no time for “talk fests”.

Indig-Connect PaCE manager Lila Pigliafiori said the  curriculum and why students were not finding classes interesting needed to be examined.

The group targets truancy  with parents by examining enrolment, attendance, learning and achieving.

 The Mount Isa Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Reference Group submitted a letter to the Mount Isa City Council suggesting six proposals to target school truancy:

●The Director of Education Services,  principals and other relevant stakeholders hold a forum to make recommendations on school attendance. 

●Provide principals with suggestions to best place resources that will improve school attendance. 

●Develop parental reinforcement strategies and increase cultural awareness with agencies. 

●Discuss school policies around absenteeism including the suspension and expulsion policy.

●Increase the investments and built capacity for the Youth Engagement Officer positions. 

●The need for government and non-government sectors to be more active in schools.