Action urged as report finds 85pc truants Maori

In 2013 Northland had the highest rate of truancy in the country. Photo / File

An "extraordinarily high" proportion of Maori students are wagging school in Northland with the service responsible calling for it to be addressed urgently.

The annual report of the Tai Tokerau Attendance Service showed 85 per cent of the students referred in 2014 were Maori.

Ministry of Education figures from 2014 showed 52 per cent of students were Maori, making the number of students referred disproportionately high.

"The extraordinarily high proportion of Maori students referred to the attendance service is a major concern," the report found. "These students are not well served by the education system and continue to under-achieve compared to their peers."

Out of the 1441 students referred to the service last year, 1224 were Maori- or 85 per cent.

The issue needed to be addressed as a matter of urgency, the report found.

In 2013, the ministry streamlined its attendance services awarding the Tai Tokerau Attendance Services, run by the Ngapuhi Iwi Social Services, with the Northland contract.

In the same year, Northland had the highest rate of truancy in the country.

While the service was given $562,970 a year from the ministry, it was one of three regions to receive a funding top-up this year due to high demand.

The ministry declined to say how much extra the service received due to commercial confidentiality.

While the report stated a further report investigating the issue would be ready by March, when contacted by the Northern Advocate the attendance service said it was not yet ready. The service declined to comment further.

Te Tai Tokerau Principals Association president Pat Newman partially attributed the issue to the high proportion of Maori in poverty.

Things like no food, no transportation and inadequate clothing often kept students from school, Mr Newman said.

The issue should be no surprise to anybody. "I totally totally agree that something needs to be done about it."

Northland College principal Jim Luders said school was not a positive experience for many Maori.

"It doesn't surprise me that Maori feel the most disenfranchised," Mr Luders said.

"They've probably had years and years of people telling them 'you're not up to scratch'."

Both principals, as well as Tikipunga High School principal Alec Solomon, said the attendance service was working well.

An important aspect of truancy was to be proactive, Mr Solomon said. "If there looks like there is a trend then we will refer."