It beggars belief that we are now again recording school attendance daily, and somehow it is a revelation that David Seymour has implemented such a system. What on earth were the last Government doing, other than refusing to release attendance figures – such as they were?
A new data portal showing daily school attendance figures has been launched as part of Government efforts to address the country’s truancy rates.
Associate Education Minister David Seymour launched the portal today, which shows school attendance rates at a regional level. Before today, attendance rates were reported for each term and released publicly by the Ministry of Education months later.
The new portal is accessible to the public and will be updated once a week to show a national average of how many students are at school on any given day.
Seymour said reporting by schools is currently voluntarily but would become mandatory from Term 1, 2025.
He said 88.7 per cent of schools were voluntarily submitting their data to the Ministry of Education via student management systems. Only six schools in New Zealand did not have student management systems capable of pushing the data to the ministry, he said.
“The reason that we’re starting off voluntary is that we’ll require law changes to be made and Cabinet has agreed to that. Later this year we will amend the Education and Training Act so that the Education Secretary can direct schools to report their data daily.”
NZ Herald
What on earth was Labour doing for six years while Chris Hipkins was the Education Minister for many of those years? It seems all they did was try to cover up the problem.
It can be no surprise to see the rise in violent retail crime with thousands of kids roaming the streets and not attending school.
It is an undeniable truism that in order for you to succeed at school then you must ATTEND school. It is a travesty that truancy became such a problem under the Labour Government and their Education Minister Chris Hipkins.
Seymour said the country was facing a nationwide attendance crisis that required more accurate and timely information to solve.
“Once we have more data, we’re going to be in a position to better understand which students are not attending, perhaps why, are there any patterns, and which ideas and initiatives that the government undertakes will ensure that more students are attending school.”
Figures released last month for Term 4 2023 show just over half of students (53.6 per cent) attended school regularly. Maori and Pacific students were worse affected with regular attendance rates of 39.8 per cent and 36.8 in Term 4, respectively. Regular school attendance is defined as attending more than 90 per cent in a term.
NZ Herald
Why are Maori and Pacific students the worst affected? Even the all-student attendance rate of 53.6% is appalling.
The new attendance data is part of Seymour’s recently released attendance action plan. The plan also included new health guidance to help schools and parents decided whether a child is well enough attend classes and a communication campaign to increase awareness around the value of attending school.
“The Government has set a target of ensuring 80 per cent of students are present for more than 90 per cent of the term by 2030. To achieve this, I’m saying to schools that they need to aspire to reach an average daily attendance rate above 94 per cent.
“Ultimately, it’s up to parents to decide what’s appropriate for their child, but I ask parents to consider whether days off for certain reasons are in the best interest of your child. For example, if we look at the data from last term, attendance often reduces on a Friday.”
NZ Herald
What gets measured gets done. If you want to get on top of truancy then you have to measure it.
It is fantastic that this new Government is serious about getting kids back in school. The first step is to measure it.
I fully expect that the teacher unions will oppose this vociferously.
Well done David Seymour for actually trying to make a difference.
Help Keep The BFD Alive
Expenses are growing, ad revenue is shrinking. Things have to change otherwise we will need to cut services. We don’t want to have to do that. It’s really up to you.
- For security reasons, credit card donations require Javascript. Please enable Javascript in your browser before continuing.
Your Donation
Your Recurring Donation
Donation Period *
Your One-Time Donation
Details First Name * Last Name * Email * Address Address 2 City State Postcode Country Afghanistan Åland Islands Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Anguilla Antarctica Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belau Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bonaire, Saint Eustatius and Saba Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Bouvet Island Brazil British Indian Ocean Territory British Virgin Islands Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia Comoros Congo (Brazzaville) Congo (Kinshasa) Cook Islands Costa Rica Croatia Cuba CuraÇao Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Eswatini Ethiopia Falkland Islands Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guatemala Guernsey Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Heard Island and McDonald Islands Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Republic of Ireland Isle of Man Israel Italy Ivory Coast Jamaica Japan Jersey Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macau Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norfolk Island North Korea North Macedonia Norway Oman Pakistan Palestinian Territories Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Pitcairn Poland Portugal Qatar Reunion Romania Russia Rwanda Saint Barthélemy Saint Helena Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Martin (French part) Saint Martin (Dutch part) Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Vincent and the Grenadines San Marino São Tomé and Príncipe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Georgia/Sandwich Islands South Korea South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Svalbard and Jan Mayen Sweden Switzerland Syria Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tokelau Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom (UK) United States (US) Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Vatican Venezuela Vietnam Wallis and Futuna Western Sahara Western Samoa Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe Phone Number Payment Name on Card * .StripeElement { border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 1em; } #charitable_stripe_card_errors { color: #eb1c26; font-size: .8em; margin: .5em 0 0 0; } Credit/Debit Card Donate
Please share this article so others can discover The BFD.