Three out of five Western Australian preschool-aged children in WA's most disadvantaged educational areas are failing to attend the minimum 15 hours of required schooling each week - representing nearly twice the national average - a new report has revealed.
The Educate Australia Fair? Education Inequality in Australia report released by the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre on Wednesday found WA students had the worst attendance rates in disadvantaged areas, despite them receiving the highest amount of educational funding per child in the country.
Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre director Alan Duncan said WA's state educational funding model was "clearly generous" but needed to be so to support students in remote and very remote areas.
"The quantum of funding generally in Western Australia per student is higher than other states and territories, but there are reasons for that, the particular needs of harder-to-reach areas in remote and very remote areas in WA are very different to the needs of people who may be on the fringes of Melbourne or Sydney," he said.
The report revealed the top ten most advantageous areas in Western Australia for education were mostly made up of Perth's western suburbs, while the bottom 10 comprised of remote and very remote areas in the Goldfields, Kimberley and Pilbara.
"The most advantaged areas are clustered around the Swan River and nearby Indian Ocean coastline, starting from North Fremantle and extending north to Hillarys," the report read.
"The fringes of the city reveal relatively higher levels of educational disadvantage, from Rockingham and Kwinana in the south, Stirling in the north, along with the Gosnells to the east of the city.
"The most disadvantaged areas are located in remote and very remote areas throughout the State, with Leinster-Leonora ranked bottom, followed by Halls Creek, East Pilbara, Roebuck and Meekatharra."
School funding in these remote areas was as high as $54,000 per student – compared to the national average of $14,000 - to reflect the disadvantage and higher cost of delivering services.
The staff/student ratio average was 10.7 students to one teacher in WA's top 10 disadvantaged areas, compared to the national average of around one teacher to 14 students.
Despite the additional support, students in disadvantaged areas were significantly more likely to miss schooling.
"We find if we rank the top and bottom 50 areas, then those at the bottom of the ranking have nearly five times the non-attendance rate of those at the top," Professor Duncan said.
"There's a very strong correlation between lower levels of educational achievement and high non-attendance rates.
"It's hugely important to maintain the student's connection with school, it's hugely important to maintain their attendance across year 7 through 10 and their motivation."
Greater community involvement, access to communications and job prospects are required in WA's remote areas to encourage students to complete their secondary schooling and go onto tertiary education, Professor Duncan said.
The report revealed nearly half the households in the most disadvantaged schooling areas did not have access to the internet.
Meanwhile, 40 per cent of pre-school-aged students are attending pre-school for the 15 hours required each week, compared to 70 per cent nationally.
"Clearly the pre-school through primary, that transition is absolutely fundamental to success later on in the education journey," Professor Duncan said.
"In WA, only two in five children in areas of greatest disadvantage are attending pre-school for 15 hours a week or more, the national average is around 70 per cent, so we 're lagging behind in presenting students with significant input from pre-school."
Western Australia's higher education sector generally performed poorly in terms of accessibility for disadvantaged groups, with the lowest or near-lowest equity ratios for Indigenous students, students from low-socio-economic and non-English speaking backgrounds, and from regional and remote areas.
The 2016 Census revealed, of the four remote Indigenous areas near Broome profiled in the Kimberley, 14 people out of 1524, or less than one per cent, listed having an education higher than secondary school – compared to an average 9.5 per cent across WA.
The Education Minister was contacted for comment.
Top 10 areas of educational advantage in WA
1. Floreat
2. Claremont
3. City Beach
4. Nedlands - Dalkeith - Crawley
5. Wembley - West Leederville - Glendalough
6. Cottesloe
7. Mosman Park - Peppermint Grove
8. Winthrop
9. Applecross - Ardross
10. Subiaco - Shenton Park
Top areas of education disadvantage in WA
1. Leinster - Leonora
2. Halls Creek
3. East Pilbara
4. Roebuck
5. Meekatharra
6. Derby - West Kimberley
7. Kununurra
8. Carnarvon
9. Roebourne
10. South Hedland
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