School absence – PV media comment

The Herald-Sun has raised concerns about the level of absenteeism in Victorian schools. According to an article in Saturday’s edition,

The average Victorian secondary student will skip nearly a year worth of high school, with experts blaming a spike in mental health issues and feelings of isolation among teenagers… The non-attendance figures were all far worse than targets the Department set and are based on the latest publicly available data, which was collected in 2022.

The article discusses possible reasons for the high rate of absenteeism: illness from Covid/flu, school refusal and mental health issues.

Two psychologists (Dr Janine Bounds and Dr Michael Carr-Gregg) are quoted, commenting on the increase in young people experiencing “school can’t”, often referred to as school refusal.

Parents Victoria CEO Gail McHardy is quoted in the article:

Parents Victoria chief executive Gail McHardy said: “This is about how we can work together to reverse these trends and a lot of it is about quality of relationships and giving students a sense of belonging and an ability to relate to their peers and teachers.”

Read the full article (subscription only)