The overall figures were down from 57.7 per cent in term two in 2019 - pre-Covid - 64.2 per cent in 2020 and 59.7 per cent in 2021. In term one this year it was 46 per cent.
At the same time, rates of irregular absence, moderate absence, and chronic absence increased and were at their highest since 2011.
Act Party education spokesman Chris Baillie, a former teacher, said the education system has been “declining” for years and Labour’s goal of 70 per cent attendance by 2024 was “uninspiring”.
Act’s policy includes five ideas to get children back in the classroom regularly. This includes daily national attendance reporting, and whether any absence was justified or unjustified. The Ministry of Education would publish this daily attendance, building a national focus on the issue.
Act would also change the law to make it easier to fine parents for poor attendance from their children.
The party says that currently parents cannot be fined for student non-attendance without a court conviction, but they can be fined on the spot for speeding to school.
Act would change the Education and Training Act to allow the Ministry of Education to introduce an infringement notice regime for truancy. They would ensure police could work with schools on truants and take children they see out of school during school hours to either the school or home.
Act also proposed a traffic light system for unjustified attendance at schools. At the red setting, more than 30 per cent truant, the student would be referred to the Ministry of Education, which would decide whether to fine parents and/or refer the matter to police.
Schools would also receive funding to deal with poor attendance, weighted through the Equity Index so schools with more vulnerable student populations would receive more funding.
The funds would come from the $38.5 million spent annually on truancy services.
National leader Christopher Luxon has also been critical of New Zealand’s poor school attendance rates, laying blame on parents and school leaders and also not ruling out a punitive approach, including fines.
Their truancy policy will be announced next year.
Associate Education Minister Jan Tinetti has been approached for comment.
She has previously said fines had been tried and not succeeded in the past.
“We need to raise awareness of how important education is I would really like parents to understand that education is the ability for people to have choices. And for the children to have choices. We all need to understand that this is a society response,” Tinetti said.
Tinetti has previously said term two data this year was an “outlier” due to the Covid outbreak, and because of public health messaging encouraging people to stay home if they were sick or a contact.
On wider issues, including the massive inequities, Tinetti said their attendance strategy, launched this year, was designed to re-engage students, while the Government was on track to meet the first target of 70 per cent regular attendance by next year, and 75 per cent by 2026.
Tinetti said she did not believe a punitive approach was needed for parents who kept their children home.
Meanwhile, an Education Review Office report released this month also warned New Zealand had worse school attendance than other English-speaking countries and many parents didn’t care if their children missed classes.
