|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Provisional school attendance data for Term 2 this year shows despite high fuel prices in person attendance rates were higher than any Term 2 since 2016, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says.
In Term 2, 2026, 64.2 per cent of students attended school regularly. That’s a 5.8 per cent increase from 58.4 per cent in Term 2, 2025.
A student attends school ‘regularly’ when they’re in class for more than 90 per cent of the term.
“When the government takes attendance seriously, so do students and their families and care givers,” Seymour says.
“This data shows attendance rates continue to rise under this government.
“We are focussed on fixing what matters, and few things are as important as school attendance.
“That’s the attitude we’ve taken to attendance during this difficult period.”
Seymour says the results speak for themselves and under the current government “attendance during tough times has skyrocketed”.
“In Term 2, 2022, regular attendance was at 39.6 per cent. In Term 2, 2026, about 199,134 more students attended school regularly.
“Kiwi students are showing up to school more, and parents are pushing them to attend.
“Those students and parents should be proud. We’re on a roll, and I expect that to continue.
“Our attendance initiatives are now in force and have delivered results already.
“As educators, communities, and families become more familiar with new tools, those results will continue to improve.
“For example, every school is now required to have implemented their own attendance management plan (AMP).
“It means there are escalating responses for declining attendance.”
Seymour says examples of how interventions might work are:
- Five days absent: The school to get in touch with parents/guardians to determine reasons for absence and set expectations.
- 10 days absent: School leadership meets with parents/guardian and the student to identify barriers to attendance and develop plans to address this.
- 15 days absent: Escalating the response to an Attendance Service Provider. If absence escalates beyond this point (or for cases of non-enrolment) prosecution of parents becomes a possibility.
