Good morning. Almost a million Australian schoolchildren – equivalent to one in four pupils – are classified as having a disability and schools are buckling under the pressure. Parents, teachers and advocates say education is at crisis point, with some caregivers removing their children altogether from a school system that’s failing to accommodate them. Today Guardian Australia launches The Classroom Divide; an investigation into an education system no longer fit for purpose.

Meanwhile, the US attempts to restart Israel-Hamas talks, and how a fossil unlocked the secrets of an extinct kangaroo.

“It was just causing everyone so much distress that we had no choice,” Alicia Cook tells Guardian Australia. Her decision to remove her eight-year-old son, Emerson, from school, she says, was “devastating”.
Emerson would later be diagnosed with anxiety,ADHD and autism, making him one of the 25% of Australian schoolchildren who need support and adjustments to attend a mainstream school.
Advocates say children like Emerson should not have to leave their schools and that instead, Australia’s education system urgently needs a “systematic, seismic” shake-up to accommodate the new reality – from the government funding system down to classroom design.

It’s almost enough to make you stop doomscrolling: dull devices are now cool. A feature-free flip phone became a hot new accessory after it was unveiled at Milan Design Week. While sales figures show smartphones are under no real threat, there’s a growing appetite among younger people to bin them amid ballooning fears about attention-harvesting and data privacy.

“There is evidence of this generation modifying their smartphone behaviour, with concerns around the negative impacts of being constantly digitally connected driving this,” says Joe Birch, a technology analyst. “Three in five gen Zers say they’d like to be less connected to the digital world.”

The Australian reports that the Coalition will demand Jim Chalmers cut spending in the budget to accelerate the nation’s fight against inflation. The Age is among several publications to cover the rallies against abuse of women, and the PM’s admission of a crisis.

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