Indigenous
Truancy

Some Causes

Possible
Solutions

Success Stories

Summary

Indigenous Truancy

Truancy among aboriginal children and adolescents is of great concern in Australia, particularly in remote communities.  While many cases of truancy among indigenous students appear to fall within the 'mainstream', they are generally more complex in both their nature and management.

According to the National Report Volume 2, item 16.6 on school non-attendance amongst aborigines who died in custody, 'Non-attendance features in the educational history of many of those who died in custody.' (www.austlii.edu.au).  Thankfully, the outcomes of truancy are not necessarily always so extreme, but there is a clear link between truancy and crime among young Aboriginals.   The report goes on to cite various reasons for truancy, going back as far as the 1970s.  While many incentives for non-attendance such as lack of washing facilities, inadequate transport and inappropriate timetabling are  being successfully addressed, others, such as insufficient parental supervision due to substance abuse, still remain a thorny problem.

On the positive side though, according to an inquiry being conducted by Senator John Tierney into Aboriginal education, the number of indigenous children staying on to the final year of school has quadrupled since the mid 1970s, and higher education enrolments have tripled in the past decade (www.mrcltd.org.au).  And, it is important to note that approximately 20% of Indigenous students have excellent attendance patterns (Bourke et al, 2000).  However, these statistics are sadly lacking when compared with student retention rates Australia-wide.

The issue of Aboriginal non-attendance at school has been considered a problem since the mid 1980s, and has, accordingly, been the focus of research and policy development since then (Gray and Beresford, 2002).

Some Causes of Indigenous Truancy

The following paragraph from the Western Australian Department of Education’s 1997-2000 Aboriginal Education Operational Plan (Gray and Beresford, 2000) goes a long way toward highlighting the gravity and extent of the problem.

            'The issues which contribute to and impact upon this situation are long-standing and complex.  Social, cultural, environmental, economic and health factors all contribute to Aboriginal students being alienated and not achieving in the schooling process.  The lack of a supportive school environment, the transcience or mobility of families, poor self-motivation, racism, harassment, peer pressure, poverty, lack of support structures from home, the undervaluing of education by the community, homelessness, substance abuse, pregnancy, alienation from families and poor health can all be attributed to Aboriginal students not achieving in our school system.'

The following table below cited by Gray & Beresford 2000 from in the Western Australian Department of Education's 1997-2000 Aboriginal Education Operational Plan details factors and statistics given by service providers in the Midland Region for alienation of Aboriginal students from school.

This table reveals the complexity of the issue of non-attendance, but it is interesting to note that non-attendance itself is an issue that disaffects students.  Other issues themselves cover a variety of sub-issues or are possible 'grey areas', and we discuss some of these below.

Glue Ear is a health issue that is a common cause of non-attendance among Aboriginal children, for the simple reason that they often cannot hear properly.  Academic skills usually suffer, so it is likely that the issue of limited literacy skills quoted in the table above is linked to this problem.

The condition Glue Ear is medically known as Otitis Media with Effusion, and involves an infection of the middle ear accompanied by fluid build-up.  Many cases of Glue Ear will correct themselves over time, but the child's circumstances will affect this.  Antibiotics is the usual treatment.  Severe cases of the condition, in which the hearing loss is 30 decibels or more in both ears and which continues for more than three months, will result in surgery. 

All children are naturally prone to Glue Ear because of the narrowness of their Eustachian tubes, but the condition is more prevalent among Aboriginal children, often due to sub-standard living conditions.  Indigenous children in particular will suffer the condition frequently, and this will impact on their school life.

Falling behind at school can cause embarrassment, and truancy often results.  The situation soon spirals.  For example, a student commencing at high school with a low literacy level will usually fall behind and eventually drop out.

Parents who have had negative school experiences will often pass on their feelings to their children.  According to Gray & Beresford, many parents 'have themselves been disadvantaged in education, and have good reason to view educational institutions as alien environments which hold little benefit for them.'  This can often be viewed in 'light of past government policies and of assimilation, [in particular] the forced removal of Aboriginal children from their families.

Cultural ties, not specified above, is often related to the issue of transcience.  A death in the family may result in children being taken to a family gathering and not returning for weeks.

Other cultural aspects such as male initiation rites will result in male students no longer 'fitting in' in the school environment.  Others will ultimately answer only to their elders.

This area is also closely linked to family ties and therefore family problems.  Aboriginal girls in particular are often obliged to provide child-care within the family group.  Teenage pregnancy is also high, and most girls who fall pregnant never return to school.

A lack of indigenous teachers, teachers who don’t understand Aboriginal culture, and a lack of teachers prepared to teach in schools with large indigenous populations are all problems encountered in Aboriginal education.

Possible Solutions to Indigenous Truancy

Solutions to the problems of Indigenous truancy are necessarily varied and broad-ranging, but the behaviour needs to be identified and dealt with as soon as possible to prevent it becoming a pattern.  If dealt with effectively at an early stage truancy is less likely to become an issue later.

The Monash University Report - Better Practice in School Attendance: Improving the School Attendance of Indigenous Students - was commissioned by and funded by the Commonwealth of Australia to investigate reasons and solutions to Indigenous Truancy amongst school students.  The report makes fourteen recommendations for addressing the problems associated with Indigenous Truancy.  These are:

1. Introduce computer assisted learning strategies and individual training programs.  For transient students, data could be transferred between schools, and irregular attendees could work without disrupting regular attendees.

2. That collection of data be reviewed; in particular the quality and accessibility of attendance data as it pertains to Indigenous students.

3. That all teacher education students in Australia undertake compulsory Indigenous education and Indigenous studies in their pre-service training.

4. That pre- and in-service teachers undertake Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) to better equip them to deal with teaching and children's learning in remote Indigenous communities.

5. That schools in remote regions should be encouraged to negotiate the annual school calendar and daily timetable with their communities to achieve a better fit between both school and community needs.

6. That School Principal positions in Indigenous communities be openly advertised on a national basis, rather than internally within education departments.

7. That an effort be made to train Indigenous teachers so that the number of Indigenous teachers in classrooms at least equals the percentage of Indigenous people in the total population.

8. That intensive professional development programs for teachers be developed to provide cross-cultural training and understanding of Indigenous education to promote community involvement and a better teaching climate.

9. That learning options be made available in schools to Indigenous males in the post-primary years in remote communities that will allow to pursue studies of a practical nature, and provide opportunities for structured workplace training.

10. That research be undertake to establish the nature of the cause/effect relationship between low levels of achievement in the area of English language and literacy learning and poor school attendance.

11. That schools' curricula should be developed in conjunction with parents and community members with the local Aboriginal Student Support and Parent Association (ASSPA) committees having a meaningful role.  The curricula should be focused on developing literacy and numeracy and be relevant to the students by taking account of local environment and culture including Indigenous language.

12. That schools be encouraged to provide opportunities for Indigenous elders, former students and other community members to be involved in teaching programs and the development of a supportive atmosphere for Indigenous students.  Role models within the Indigenous community should be encouraged to become mentors to Indigenous students, especially to those who have attendance difficulties.

13. That computer facilities should be made as accessible as possible to students, by enabling after-hours access in schools, as well as in homework centres and libraries.

14. That schools with large Indigenous enrolments and student attendance problems consider organising the school on a multi-age grouping basis according to levels of attendance.  The flexibility gained will allow those students who do attend regularly to be unimpeded by those whose attendance is less frequent.  (Bourke et al 2000)

Many other reports have been carried out on the issue of Indigenous non-attendance at school, and numerous other solutions for counteracting the problem have been put forward.  Many of these fall within the guidelines of the Monash Report, but some other recommended strategies are:

• Programs that cater to Indigenous students making the transition from pre-school to primary school and primary to secondary school.

• Programs for adolescents making the transition from compulsory schooling to post-schooling because of the number of students leaving once they are of legal age.

• Community involvement in drawing up policy for dealing with absenteeism; improving awareness of parents, staff and students as to their responsibility, early intervention, and the reasons for non-attendance (i.e. whether they be in-or-out of school problems).

• Aboriginal Education Rooms.

• Regular Parent Meetings and provision of strategies for parents.

• Aboriginal Education Newsletter – produced by the students.

• Alternative Programs for non-attendees.

• Aboriginal Studies Programs.

• Positive reinforcement for those whose attendance improves.

Some Success Stories

Leichhardt High School in New South Wales which has a very low population (approximately .75 - 1.5%) of Indigenous students has been trialing the 'Aboriginal Task Centre Kit'.  They aimed the program at maths in particular because this is the area that Indigenous students were mostly falling behind, and during which they spent much time absent.

The school uses a homework run on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons in which the students undertake tasks from the kit, which is available on the Internet.

One student immediately showed a marked turnaround in her attitude to maths, and the accompanying social difficulties encountered in the classroom were greatly reduced.  A greater interest in maths has been shown by other students in the program, and truancy has also been significantly reduced (http://www.mav.vic.edu.au/PSTC/aborigi/leich.htm).

Also in New South Wales, at Courallie High School, students are working with Aboriginal artists in their own production of the Rainbow Serpent story.  The Moree Plains Shire Council in conjunction with the school runs the art based project which is aimed at reducing truancy, decreasing suspension rates and increasing literacy through stimulating interest in school.

Activities developed skills in music, writing and dance, and culminated in a variety of work groups such as contemporary Aboriginal dance, a traditional dance troupe, a visual arts group and a street theatre/music group.  A sense of project ownership and an enhanced self-confidence was experienced by participants as they worked together on issues that were important to them without conflicting with their cultural identities.

An improvement in school attendance rates was immediately evident, and included the return to school of one student who had previously not attended for over a year.  An improvement in students' attitudes to authority was also apparent.
(https://www.det.nsw.edu.au/eas/youth/publica/moreplain.htm)

According to Gray & Beresford, in the Midland Region in Perth, 'police have been the instigators of one of the most effective partnership agreements in the district via a sharing of resources with the Ministry of Education to reduce non-attendance.'  The scheme identifies children who are regular non-attendees, or at risk.  Police officers liaise with families, and a community bus picks up children at particular risk.  The figures demonstrate that this program has been successful to date.  Negative feedback on the program however, suggests that 'the primary focus of the scheme [is] to service the need of the police to reduce daytime crime rather than the broader needs of the children. (Gray & Beresford 2000, pp. 38-39).

Summary

In summary, schools need to research and recognise the low levels of attendance amongst Indigenous students and, in particular, research the instructional methods required to raise English and literacy skills that will result in improved attendance levels.  Work must also be done to turn Indigenous schools into health promoting schools which deal with the health and isolation issues faced by many young Indigenous people.

This is however an extremely complex area, and there are no hard and fast answers.  Despite the high levels of research and programs instigated by various organisations over the last 20 years, Indigenous children and adolescents are still the most academically disadvantaged students in the country (Bourke et al, 2000).