The Indonesian classroom in the regional town of Bendigo is quiet except for the scratching of pens across worksheets. 

For Sarah Duane, this is the only hour each week she is scheduled to study a language she deliberately chose for her final years of school. Even that hour is not always guaranteed. 

“It’s incredibly frustrating,” she says. “I deliberately chose to study Indonesian, and I only have one hour on a Monday, and it doesn’t always run because of public holidays. It just makes it really hard especially for a subject that heavily relies on face-to-face learning. We often fall behind”. 

Sarah is not alone. Her experience reflects broader challenges across regional, rural and remote schooling in Australia.  

An Independent Review into Regional, Rural and Remote Education conducted in 2018, alongside data from the Australian Government Department of Education, found that one of the most persistent challenges facing these schools is attracting and retaining qualified teachers, particularly in specialist subject areas such as languages, mathematics and science. 

These shortages can directly affect what students are able to study. Subjects may be reduced, combined or withdrawn entirely when staffing cannot be secured. In some cases, teachers are required to step outside their subject specialisation to keep courses running.  

Schools Plus is a national not-for-profit organisation founded in 2014 that aims to give every child in Australia the opportunity to thrive, based on the belief that a child’s education and future should never be determined by their background or postcode. 

The organisation works with rural, regional and remote schools to address educational disadvantages. The organisation highlights how distance can affect students’ access to learning opportunities.  

CEO of Schools Plus Sherrill Nixon says this can have a direct impact on how young people see their future. 

“Distance from learning resources, digital technology and reliable internet access, extracurricular activities and exposure to careers can mean many young people feel their world is smaller due to a lack of opportunities,” she says.

Nixon also points to the impact of socioeconomic pressures on families. 

“Some parents didn’t complete their own education or didn’t enjoy it, which can limit young people’s aspirations and make it harder for families to support their children’s wellbeing,” she says.

For Sarah, that instability shapes how she approaches her education. 

“It sometimes feels like you’re just trying to work with what’s available rather than what you actually want to study,” she says. 

Over time, these disruptions can have broader academic consequences. According to the Department of Education, students in remote Australia are, on average, significantly behind their metropolitan peers in core subject areas such as science and mathematics. 

Nixon says the effects can extend beyond academic performance. 

“When students fall behind, they can lose opportunities and the confidence to discover their talents and build a strong sense of identity.” 

However, the impact extends beyond education. Nixon says the erosion of belonging and self-worth can affect life beyond the school environment  

“That erosion of belonging and self-worth can have a significant impact on mental health and wellbeing, with disengaged students more likely to experience anxiety, social isolation and long-term difficulties into adulthood,” she said. 

This is further supported by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare which suggests that those living in very remote areas were five times as likely to be receiving unemployment payments as those living in major cities (17% and 3.4%, respectively). This is due to limited opportunities and access to work outside metropolitan areas, lower levels of educational attainment, and the smaller range of employment and career opportunities.  

But these experiences are not shared equally.  

In Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, Year 12 student Connie Thomas has five scheduled Indonesian classes each week.  

Unlike Sarah, Connie’s school was able to maintain the subject earlier this year when enrolments and staffing came under pressure, bringing in a qualified teacher from another school to keep the course running as part of her regular timetable. 

“They made sure I could still do it,” Connie says. “They found a teacher at another school nearby so we could continue face-to-face learning”. 

While both students faced uncertainty over subject availability, their experiences highlight a broader disparity in how regional and metropolitan schools can respond when subjects come under strain. 

Organisations such as Schools Plus are working directly with schools to help close these gaps across rural and regional Australia. Their focus spans five key areas: learning gaps, wellbeing, support for First Nations communities, rural and remote disadvantage, and crisis and climate resilience. 

Nixon says these challenges are deeply interconnected, and solutions are most effective when they are shaped at a local level. 

“The best work we’ve supported has been led by the schools and communities themselves,” Nixon says. “They know their students, they know their context, and they know what’s been tried before.” 

Nixon says long-term improvement also depends on addressing the growing digital divide affecting many regional communities.  

“No student should be going without access to reliable internet and up-to-date technology,” she says. “That’s not acceptable in a country as wealthy as Australia.”  

For Sarah, the challenges remain part of daily school life. But she says it’s not about wanting more than other students, it’s about consistency and opportunity. 

“You just want the same chance as everyone else” she says.