The transition of year 7 into secondary school in 2015 was welcomed by many, however Katter’s Australian Party leader and Traeger MP Robbie Katter has expressed his concerns, describing it as another thump in the chest for battlers in rural and remote areas.

Mr Katter advised that his concerns stemmed from many of the small towns within his Traeger electorate having primary schools only, with no secondary schools.

“These days, once a child living in such a town finishes year 6, families don’t have many options.

“They either make the difficult decision to send their child, often as young as 11 away to boarding school, which in many instances are 1000’s of kilometres away.

“They educate their child through the school of distance education, denying them daily social interaction and face-to-face learning support.

“Or, they pack up their lives and relocate to a city that provides a secondary school option.

Mr Katter outlined that the inconvenience having to uproot their lives would cause for a family was only the tip of the iceberg.

“Of course, it would be an inconvenience, but aside from that you’re taking families out of small towns.

“The mum might be a local teacher and the dad a mechanic.

“In the town of Ravenswood, the mine manager expressed concerns held by potential job applicants.

“Our drive for the town to obtain permanent resident work force in the mine is deterred by the reluctance of families to settle in Ravenswood only to have to leave once their child reaches year 6.

“There’s hesitation moving to an area that does not have education continuity.

“Towns of this size feel the blow of loosing valued members of society far more than the larger cities.

“In addition to that”, said Mr Katter, “a family considering moving to, investing in or building in a small town may very well be turned off by the fact in a short two years’ time they will be forced to send their child to boarding school.

“Why move there when you can move somewhere that offers a secondary school education?

“These small towns and the people living in them can’t afford this type of hindrance and I want to provide a solution to the issue.

Robbie Katter advised that a petition has been developed, and he is calling on people who are affected by the issue, or may benefit from the ability to keep their children home longer to have their say.

“The petition will call on the house to provide a solution.

“Whether that be the establishment of learning facilities at the current primary schools that allow children in years 7-10 to learn through distance education with the support of teacher aides and daily interaction.

“Or the expansion of the current primary schools to accommodate year 7-10 students in the traditional learning manner.

“You can follow the link to the petition below.

https://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/Work-of-the-Assembly/Petitions/Petition-Details?id=3857

20230208 – RK media release – Secondary schooling out of reach for small towns