Families are leaving the remote NT due to the burdens of sending students to boarding schools.A Top End mother says remote families are leaving the Northern Territory because of the emotional and financial costs of sending children to boarding school.
"So they don't do that very often, of course, they put them on a plane. But one of the things we struggle with in Australia at the moment is airfares and how expensive they are, particularly from the more remote areas," he said.Ms Scott said saying goodbye to children at the beginning of each term could be"heartbreaking"."Nobody wants to send their kids away, but it's a necessity, unfortunately, and we want the best for our children.
"It's quite an adult environment on a cattle station, so they're really looking for that and the only way that we can give that to them is through boarding," she said. The ICPA also wants the NT Department of Education to extend the Back to School voucher scheme to all geographically isolated Northern Territory students boarding interstate, as only students educated within the NT are eligible.The federal government offers an Assistance for Isolated Children subsidy, but Mr Stokes said the allowance was not enough to cover the rising fees of boarding schools.
Ms Scott encouraged parents navigating the boarding experience to become involved with their local ICPA branch.