Queensland School With Zero Students Enrolled
Story by Brisbane Times.
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IT’S NOT quite the pub with no beer, but Queensland has a school with no students.
Mackenzie River State School has zero students enrolled, according to “day 8” figures published by Education Queensland.
The school is an outcrop of buildings off a lonely stretch of road called Dingo Mount Flora Road, about 240km west of Rockhampton in central Queensland.
The sad lack of enrolment in 2017 comes after the state school had three male students attending in 2016 (in Years 4, 5 and 6), 10 students in 2015, 13 students in 2014 and 17 in 2013.Mackenzie River State School from Dingo Mount Flora Road. Photo: Google Maps Street View
The school is an outcrop of buildings off a lonely stretch of road called Dingo Mount Flora Road, about 240km west of Rockhampton in central Queensland.
The sad lack of enrolment in 2017 comes after the state school had three male students attending in 2016 (in Years 4, 5 and 6), 10 students in 2015, 13 students in 2014 and 17 in 2013.
An article in The Morning Bulletin in September 2016 said the school was a hub of the community as it was the only place where people could meet and hold functions, but enrolments had dropped because of a changing community and reduced workforce.
Acting principal Catherine Phillis said rumours had spread that the school had already closed.
“The impact of this rumour could be quite profound for our school as we may miss out on potential enrolments and if the school was closed our community would lose a valuable resource,” Ms Phillis told the Rockhampton newspaper.
But despite having no students in 2017 – and its staff being deployed elsewhere – the school has not officially closed.