Principals raise questions over truancy service

President of the Te Tai Tokerau Principals Association, Pat Newman, said truancy remains a huge problem in Northland.

With almost 2000 Northland students truant from school a week, the service in charge of combating the issue has been labelled hamstrung and ineffective.

Since the Te Tai Tokerau Attendance Service started last year the truancy rate in Northland has become the highest in the country. The Te Tai Tokerau Attendance Service was unable to provide comment on the figures or criticism by edition time.

However, president of Te Tai Tokerau Principals Association, Pat Newman, said he believed the service was trying hard but was just not effective enough.

"I believe they are hamstrung by inadequate resourcing to cope with the needs up here," Mr Newman said. "How effective [it is] I question because the children are still not back in school."

The issue will be discussed at the next Principals Association executive meeting. A Ministry of Education report snapshot of 2013 found 6.7 per cent, or 1931 students, of Northland's 28,822 students had unjustified absences over the week recorded.

The report also found during that week 2.1 per cent, or 605 students, were truant from school for three or more days, more than double the national average of 1 per cent. Last year was the first year Northland topped the statistics with Gisborne having the highest rates for the previous three years. Schools now have to communicate with the attendance service through an on-line portal that on average takes about five days to get a response, Mr Newman said. "It was a whole of a lot easier when I could just pick up the phone (and call the old Truancy Service)."

In 2013 the Ministry of Education streamlined its attendance services, reducing 78 services into 18. The Te Tai Tokerau Attendance Services, run by the Te Tai Tokerau Iwi Consortia, was awarded the contract in Northland, ahead of five other bidders.

Ministry head of sector enablement and support, Katrina Casey, said there had been initial concerns about the service's engagement with schools.

"The service has experienced some challenges with a small number of young people who are not engaged in education. Given the volume and complexity of cases, some had not close within the timeframe required," Ms Casey said.

But all services experienced difficulties and Te Tai Tokerau Attendance Service was working hard to build positive relationships, she said.

Whangarei resident Don Robertson became concerned about the issue after he was the victim of a robbery where one of the perpetrators was a regular truant.

Through an Official Information Act request Mr Robertson found the attendance service is paid $562,970 a year, which "gobsmacked" him, he said.