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Associate Education Minister David Seymour says New Zealanders are taking school attendance more seriously, with new data showing attitudes and attendance rates have improved since the Government took office.
The Education Review Office (ERO) surveyed 14,600 students, parents, teachers and school leaders, finding that 58.4 percent of students attended school regularly in Term 2 this year — up from 39.6 percent in 2022.
“When the Government takes education seriously, so do parents, students and schools,” Seymour said in a statement today, October 8.
“The data shows rising attendance every term this Government has been in power.”
He said the improvement reflects schools’ efforts to set clear expectations around attendance, with 93 percent of teachers and leaders doing so.
Most schools have also introduced attendance management plans aligned with the Government’s Stepped Attendance Response (STAR), which will be mandatory by Term 1, 2026.
According to the survey, more students now say attending school daily is important, with the proportion who “never want to miss school” nearly doubling since 2022. Parents are also less comfortable with their children missing extended periods.
Seymour said the Government’s $140 million, four-year attendance package will make frontline services more accountable and data-driven next year.
“Attending school is the first step towards achieving positive educational outcomes,” he said.
“These outcomes lead to better health, higher incomes and greater participation in communities, opportunities every student deserves.”
The ERO defines attendance as “when students are at school and in the class they are supposed to be in.
“If students miss a week or more of school in a term they have ‘non-regular attendance’.
“Students who miss a week each term will have missed out on a year of schooling by the time they are 16,” the ERO reports.
