The Education Review Office says the national attendance rate has not been this high since Covid-19 disrupted the country in 2020. Photo / 123rf
The Education Review Office says the national attendance rate has not been this high since Covid-19 disrupted the country in 2020. Photo / 123rf
Only 60% of students attended school regularly, a new report has found, but it is an improvement on past years.
The Education Review Office (ERO) said the attendance rate had not been this high since Covid-19 disrupted the country in 2020.
ERO’s Back to Class report also foundmore students think school is important than previously. Eighty per cent think education is important for their futures, and 75% think attending every day is important.
A similar report ERO did in 2022, called Missing Out, found that at the time, 78% thought education was important for their futures, and 67% thought going every day was important.
The number of students who say they never want to miss school has also doubled since 2022.
Fifteen thousand students, parents, teachers and school leaders were involved in the report, ERO said.
“It is very good news,” the head of ERO’s education evaluation centre, Ruth Shinoda, said.
“The shift we have seen in students’ attitudes reflects both the hard work schools have put in to increase attendance, and the change in parents’ attitudes,” she said.
Associate Education Minister David Seymour (centre) and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon (centre right) speak to students before announcing the Government’s crackdown on truancy in April last year. Photo / Mark Mitchell
“Parents’ attitudes to attendance are critical, and the good news is that more parents now understand the importance of their child not missing a lot of school.”
The report found 30% of parents were comfortable with their children missing a week or more of school in a term. This used to be 40%.
David Seymour, the Associate Minister of Education, who has been rolling out his attendance action plan with a government target of 80% attendance by 2030, welcomed the report.
“When the government takes education seriously, so do parents, students and schools,” Seymour said.
“The data shows rising attendance every term this Government has been in power.
“As our attendance action plan continues to roll out, I expect attitudes and attendance rates to continue to improve.“
Shinoda, meanwhile, said there were five specific actions the report credited for improving attendance: clear expectations from schools, making sure students feel connected to their schools, giving students roles and responsibilities at school, providing “practical” support and “rewarding” attendance.
Students who felt they belonged at school were five times more likely to think going every day was important, Shinoda said.
However, she said parents’ attitudes had to shift more to raise attendance rates further. She said more parents were comfortable with their child missing a couple of days of school for activities or family events than previously.
Schools, meanwhile, had reported that students taking holidays during term time was their biggest challenge, Shinoda said. It disrupted students’ routines and broke the habit of regular attendance.
Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers business, breaking news and local stories from Tāmaki Makaurau. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.
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