The NT Government has scrapped a controversial school funding model based on attendance. 

Northern Territory Education Minister Eva Lawler has announced the end of the ‘effective enrolment’ funding model, in which school funding was allocated based on attendance rates rather than the number of remote students.

The model has led to some remote schools receiving funding for less than half of their enrolled student population - a disadvantage to schools that need the most support to re-engage students.

Australian Education Union NT branch president Michelle Ayres says the change marks the end “to a dark chapter in education for the Territory”.

“This review confirms what teachers and principals have been saying for years — the kids with the lowest attendance are the most difficult to reach and require more resources, not fewer,” she said. 

“[Effective enrolment] has forced our public schools into inescapable downward spirals, to the point where our educational system is now on life support.

“Our attendance rates have plummeted, our literacy and numeracy levels are lower than at the turn of the century, and we face a severe teacher shortage.”

The change comes after a Deloitte Access Economics report found the number of effective enrolments in a school do not align with the school's resourcing needs, because students with higher needs are “strongly linked” with low attendance.

It found almost no evidence that the funding model encouraged attendance, but rather, was perceived as “a punitive mechanism targeted at socio-economic factors that are often seen as outside of schools' control”.

The government has agreed to implement all ten of the report's recommendations, including moving to a funding model based on enrolment without attendance components, as well as redesigning the minimum funding floor for schools.

The Territory has also pledged to develop and implement supports that help schools to manage budgets over time.

East Arnhem Land independent MLC, Yolngu man Yinigya Guyula, says he has questioned the policy frequently since entering NT parliament in 2016. 

“I am grateful for all the work that has been done to expose this unfair and racist approach to school funding that has so badly impacted our communities,” he said. 

The government says the switch to a new model could take up to five years.