Ballarat schools are seeing a massive drop in attendance as they struggle to keep students engaged post COVID.
Data released on the My School website reveals that Victorian secondary school attendance has plummeted to a record low with less than half of all students meeting benchmarks last year – a fall from three-quarters in 2019.
The benchmark is met when students attend 90% of classes or more.
It’s been highlighted that the trend is even being seen in leading high-fee schools such as Ballarat Grammar.
Ballarat Grammar’s attendance level fell by 45% from pre-pandemic levels of 91%.
In one of the more extreme drops recorded locally, Beaufort Secondary College has just 28% of students meeting the benchmark after being at 72% in 2019.
| School Name | Attendance level* 2019 | Attendance level* 2022 |
| Ballarat Grammar | 91% | 46% |
| Beaufort Secondary College | 72% | 28% |
| Loreto College | 79% | 35% |
| Damascus College | 74% | 32% |
| Ballarat high School | 79% | 47% |
| St Patrick’s College | 67% | 23% |
| Daylesford Secondary | 63% | 34% |
| Ballarat Clarendon College | 74% | 59% |
| Ballarat Christian College | 62% | 53% |
As per the Herald Sun, Monash University professor and clinical psychologist Nicole Rinehart said the pandemic had directly impacted student attendance rates.
“As a clinical psychologist who saw vulnerable children through the pandemic, I can absolutely say yes it has had an impact then and now,” she said.
“The impact is not over.”
The evidence has brought into focus the issue of school refusal – a phenomenon happening long before the pandemic.
Australian Catholic University senior lecturer in educational leadership and former principal Dr Paul Kidson said for some students, remote learning was a “safer and more comfortable” alternative.
Dr Kidson said kids who were refusing school shouldn’t be “pushed prematurely”.
A Ballarat Grammar spokesperson said its attendance levels were also affected by isolation rules, particularly for boarding students.
