THE availability of services to regional and remote areas remains the biggest – and probably fastest expanding – chasm between city and country.
In this age of technology we hear plenty of talk about how new digital tools will bridge that gap. To tell otherwise would be letting the truth get in the way of a good story.
The frustrating point is, though, that while current technology can bridge that gap, the bulk of our decision makers lack the vision of how it can, and should, be applied.
The bush is missing out. Last week’s delegation of Isolated Childrens’ Parents Association (ICPA) representatives to Sydney to make their issues heard, yet again, highlighted the challenges faced by families in regional and remote areas.
It’s disheartening to hear that each year they explain the same problems only to be asked by some clueless bureaucrat or minister why they’re still raising them. It seems that in Macquarie Street there is little more than apathy to see them to the door.
What’s lost here is that the families who face education challenges aren’t just in the state’s far west. These issues are playing out just as much in eastern regions of the state such as the New England Tablelands or Mid-North Coast.
The extra cost involved in accessing a good education often makes it prohibitive, but due to a lack of government support and infrastructure the option of a local education can be just as challenging.
And then there are those who are so remote they must school their own kids. The ICPA has some interesting statistics on its website about how much time this takes the main tutor, which is usually a parent.
It says they typically spend 40 hours a week for at least five years, if not more, attending to the role.
This is time they no longer have to assist in the family business or to seek other employment, which therefore has social and productivity consequences.
The ongoing lack of attention to resourcing these issues, regardless of who has held government, has reinforced a message that our leaders aren’t interested if you’re outside a major centre.
The fact digital whiteboards were assigned to schools that lacked the services to use them is just another example of the decision makers being removed from reality.
It is this ignorance which is perhaps the greatest road block to having these issues resolved.
