The New Zealand First party's education spokesperson Brian Donnelly says the Minister of Education should ensure school-aged children are attending school before embarking on "a dubious scheme" to make all four-year-olds attend pre-school.
"The twin evils of educational non-achievement are transience and absenteeism and the government is doing little or nothing in these areas," he said.
"In the area of transience – kids moving from school to school – the Government has no policy at all and in the area of absenteeism or irregular attendance, its policies are soft.
"The Government needs to pursue rigorously those parents who break the law by not ensuring their children attend school on every day it is open for instruction. If some irresponsible parents end up paying fines, so be it."
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