Virus kept rich pupils in school but poorer scared away
AUCKLAND: Covid19 kept more rich children in school than usual, while scaring poorer children away.
A new Ministry of Education analysis shows a fouryear decline in school attendance rates since 2015 has been reversed this year, with a sharp jump in attendance after the
MarchApril national lockdown and slightly higher attendance rates for most of the year since then.
Fewer pupils were sick, possibly due to the sharp drop in flu infections this year because of Covid19 socialdistancing measures, and wealthier families stopped taking overseas holidays.
But the move to Level 3 in August, which affected only
Auckland and was concentrated in the Pacific community, caused a steep drop in attendance for a month after the lockdown by Pacific, Maori and lowdecile students.
``This is strong evidence that Covid19 is exacerbating inequity in ways that have the potential to flow on to other outcomes, such as learning and broader wellbeing,'' the ministry warns.
Surprisingly, the data shows that attendance actually increased, even in Auckland after the August lockdown, for pupils in years 11 to 13 who faced looming national exams.
Only 5071 pupils have left school during this year in Auckland, down 38% from the same period last year, and 14,976 left school outside Auckland, down 21%.
Nationally, the biggest declines were in pupils leaving to go overseas (down 55%), followed by those leaving to go into further education (down 33%) and those leaving to go into employment (down 19%).
In contrast, the biggest declines in school attendance were for the youngest children, especially in years 1 and 2 where parents were afraid to send children back to school especially in Auckland after the August lockdown.
The same pattern affected early childhood education.
By the last two weeks in September, a month after the August lockdown, Auckland ECE attendance was still 8% below the same time last year for under3yearolds and 6% down for 3 and 4yearolds. — The New Zealand Herald