Australia

Dana Lear (AUS):
...we now have a rule that he wash his hands and feet (kids go barefoot in Australia, even in cities!) when he gets home from school, and that he eat at the table.

Mark Staples (AUS):
I went barefoot (out of preference) throughout large portions of my primary school in suburban Brisbane. (That was at a "state school", "public schools" in Oz (at least Qld) actually being private schools.) I was forced to wear shoes during my secondary (public) schooling..

 

 Kent Street Pre-Primary (click for larger 125k image)
Graham Long (NZ):
Was recently in Cairns (Queensland, Australia) ...  From what I saw, about 5% of the locals just normally go about their business barefoot in this town (this was in the downtown area, so it probably is greater overall). .... I happened to be going past a junior school at going home time, and a quick count showed that 50%+ of the school pupils appear to go barefoot to school.

Kent Street Pre-Primary (click for larger 108k image)

Kent Street Pre-Primary (click for larger 125k image)
Jeff Pages (AUS):
.... saw news footage a couple of years ago from Cairns. The film showed many children walking out of the school and most were barefoot. I just got back from my short holiday in Cairns. At Cairns North State Primary School probably about 60 to 70 percent of the children I saw in the playground were barefoot. In my travels around Cairns it seemed pretty general that bare feet are the norm in the state primary schools.
Cairns North State Primary School Wickham District School
Barefoot to
School

Parents for
Barefoot Children

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