Remote Queensland families will continue to suffer detrimental educational outcomes unless urgent action is taken to cut through the "absurd" red tape hindering student attendance, according to Burke Shire Council.
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Council CEO Clare Keenan make the call following a meeting between North West Queensland Regional Organisation of Councils and Minister for Education Grace Grace in Brisbane on 27 November.
Ms Keenan said the need for continuity of education was a priority for remote communities and she slammed the current system for failing to accommodate the short-term placement of remote and isolated children in local schools when parents were required to travel away from home.
"This creates a situation that contradicted state government policy," Ms Keenan said.
"A parent who travels for meetings, outpatient treatment or sorry business should be able to put their child in the local school for up to four weeks a year without having to jump through bureaucratic hoops."
Ms Keenan said the education system should be student-centric, not school-centric.
"What we're seeing in a lot of cases is an outcome where a child's education is negatively impacted because they can't attend school for a short time because of extenuating circumstances," she said.
"Families should not be punished because the Brisbane-based bureaucrats dictating policy don't want to acknowledge that remote education doesn't fit their vague, one-size-fits-all perspective."
Mayor Ernie Camp said that a change in mindset was needed to align the government's education action plan and Every Day Counts Initiative with the reality of remote education.
"The government recognises that consistent attendance is critical to positive student outcomes, yet we have a situation where children are being told they can't go to school for weeks at a time, just because of family circumstances they can't control," he said after the NWQROC meeting with Minister Grace.
"Remote and isolated families are being failed by schools that won't open their doors when students need a short-term learning environment away from their regular classroom."
Ms Keenan praised Minister Grace for her commitment to find a practical solution that stopped remote students from effectively being banned from learning because they were away from home.
"The Minister was genuinely interested in hearing about the impact the current policy is having, and gave an undertaking to cut through the red tape," she said.
"Educating our children is a tough enough job in remote areas as it is without bureaucratic madness compounding the issue.
The North West Star contacted Minister Grace's office for comment but they did not respond in time for deadline.
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Derek Barry
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
