Tackling truancy a priority for all
Ministry of Education figures show less than half of students are at school regularly. What is the right answer to get kids back in class?
The resumption of in-person learning is a critical priority for governments worldwide, none more so than ours.
Recognizing the importance of education for our children’s and our countries future is driving our Attendance Action Plan which is a major step getting kids back in class.
But it is not just about filling classrooms; it’s about ensuring every child has the opportunity to learn, grow and thrive. The consequences of prolonged absence from school are far-reaching, impacting not just individual students but society as a whole.
We are taking proactive measures to tackle the complex problem of truancy head-on. We understand that the solution must be multi-faceted, involving collaborative efforts from schools, parents, and the community at large. By leveraging a combination of school-led, parent-led, and community-led initiatives, we aim to address the root causes of non-attendance effectively.
Failure to address the truancy crisis could lead to a generation ill-equipped for the demands of the workforce, less engaged in the community and reliant of social benefits. That’s why our Government has set a target on ensuring that 80 percent of students are present for more than 90 percent of the term by 2030.
We have already started work on the actions outlined in the plan, with more to done and rolled out gradually. To do this the Ministry of Education will collect and analyse data to better understand the drivers of non-attendance which will enable more targeted interventions.
Currently only 45.9% of students attend school for more than 90% of the time, a figure significantly lower than attendance rates in comparable countries. We cannot afford let this continue.
The development of a Traffic Light System in under way, encompassing a range of measures involving schools, teachers, and parents. While parents will be expected to take responsibility for ensuring their children attend school, details of these measures will be disclosed in due course.
The Government will implement further measures, including daily reporting of attendance data, and mandating attendance as a strategic priority for school boards.
By adopting a comprehensive approach that addresses the underlying causes of truancy while fostering collaboration between stakeholders, we can ensure that every child has the opportunity to access the education they deserve, laying a foundation for a brighter future for all.
ARENA WILLIAMS, LABOUR MP, MANUREWA
As a parent it’s sometimes a difficult call whether to keep an unwell child home from school or not.
One thing that is likely to make regular attendance at school harder is if parents are pressured into sending kids to school when they should be at home, and bugs and illnesses spread more widely as a result.
It’s helpful to clarify the extent of the problem we are facing on school attendance.
We commonly see Ministry of Education figures cited showing that around 46% of students attend school regularly as of term 3 2023. This doesn’t mean that on an average day only 46% of students are present in the classroom.
Attending “regularly” means attending more than 90% of the time.
There was clear decline in this reported measure during and after Covid-19. However, of the roughly 17 percentage point fall in those attending more than 90% from the same term in 2021, more than half have fallen into the 80% to 90% range.
What should really be concerning us is the 12% of all students who are attending less than 70% of the time.
Listening to different ministers from across the Coalition Government doesn’t provide a great deal of clarity around what they think the underlying issue is.
Christoper Luxon suggested that what was needed was for parents to have conversations with young people, to emphasise that education led to high-paying jobs. This view would suggest that parents have suddenly put less weight on education and high-paying jobs than they did just a few years ago.
David Seymour has stated that the current balance between health and education is wrong and that too many parents are keeping sick children home unnecessarily. It’s as if education was simply a matter of being physically present in the classroom, rather than students being well enough to focus and learn.
Seymour’s approach also risks placing further strain on an already stretched health system.
If parents think they are going to be criticised for keeping their children home with a cold, then they will be more likely to make unnecessary trips to the GP rather than following their own common sense.
If we are going to take this problem seriously, a good starting point would be to consider whether the issues facing families now in the 80-90% range are the same as for the significant number of kids who are now below 70% attendance.
A child falling from the 90% range to the 80-90% range may just be a matter of a day or two’s absence and we might expect this measure to bounce back from its current low level.
However, making progress on the number of children whose attendance is very low is a more complex challenge. It’s likely more to do with structural barriers or around the cost of living – such as transport costs, or access to school uniforms and food for lunch.
Unsurprisingly, the Government’s targets are not actually focused on this part of the problem.
They are designed to allow the Government to pat themselves on the back while doing nothing to actually address the truly difficult issues around school attendance – as evidenced by their failure to commit funding for the school lunch programme.